• ‘Dulcie Dee ‘glorifies’ the penis • Rich Kiamco hosts comedy benefit April 17
In an email, Dulcie Dee announced that in her next series of paintings, she will “glorify” the penis. I took one look at the attached photos and it appeared like she was actually prettifying it.
I’ve never seen penis richly decorated with rhinestones and ribbons, lace and leaves, fish and flowers, and hearts and glitters. Although visually striking, the penis in Dulcie’s paintings at first intimidated me. It looked very feminine – graceful and gentle even — the way the artist probably meant to honor this trite symbol of manhood?
Known for her provocative erotic art – she has a collage collection called the ‘foreplay series’ and another where she unrobes and fetishizes the Geisha — Dulcie’s penis collection has been submitted to the Paris Erotic Museum.
“I know the American market is very prude and conservative,” said Dulcie. “Penises are somehow a taboo thing, whereas women’s breasts aren’t.”
Born in New York to a prominent Filipino-Chinese family engaged in banking, Dulcie was raised in Manila where her Chinese roots are. She earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of the Philippines, got her master’s from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and returned to New York to find work. She worked as designer for ad agencies, but always found time to be creatively expressive. Her paintings have appeared in the U.S. and internationally, including the Alameda Historical Museum in California, the FusionArts Museum in New York, and the Museum of the Americas in Miami. She is represented by Monkdogz Urban Art Gallery in Chelsea.
Her deep interest in Japanese ‘shunga’ (erotic art) is evident in her Geisha series and now her penis art.
Unveiled for the first time are some of Dulcie’s sweet painted penises. If you looked long enough – and I did – the penis dissolves into something else. Especially where the shaft is hidden behind all the artistic graffiti, it appears like a manicured finger, a slithering snake or truffle salami aged in its casing. – Cristina DC Pastor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gay comic Rich Kiamco hosts Comedy Benefit for Friends In Deed April 17 at the Gotham Comedy Club on 208 W. 23rd Street. Friends In Deed is a non-profit center for life-threatening illness.
Also featured in the event billed as an “afternoon of outrageous laughter” are Jessica Kirson of The Tonight Show, Comedy Central; Dan Naturman of Late Show, Late Nite; Karen Bergreen of Comedy Central; and Vidur Kapur of MTV Logo.
For those who may not be familiar with Rich’s trademark humor, it may have to do with him being a regular at The Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio. For many FilAms, it’s not the raunchy fare, it’s the fee.
But Rich is a passionate spokesman for gay rights and also a writer. He won Best Solo Performance at the Montreal GLBT International Theatre Festival for his one-man show, “Unaccessorized,” about a queer Filipino overachiever, and spoke at MTV Networks during LGBT month. And how about this for bragging rights: He co-hosted a private event with Hillary Clinton and was a deputy field organizer for the Barack Obama campaign.
His writings are anthologized in “Take Out: Queer Writing From Asian Pacific America” and “Queer Stories For Boys: True Stories from the Gay Men’s Storytelling Workshop.”
Maraming Salamat. Thank you Tina for your article. Wishing you much success with The FilAm online magazine.