How much would you pay for a painted canvas sprayed with urine?

$1.9 million US was the amount that a collector paid in 2008 for a canvas at Christie’s Auction House in New York that the auction catalog primly described as, “Oxidation Painting - copper metallic pigment and urine on canvas”. The work is one of a series “painted” in 1978 by the king of Pop Art, Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987), arguably the most influential artist of his era.

Warhol actually produced two types of piss paintings. In the earlier version, canvases were stained with piss to produce an abstract expressionist effect. Most of these early works were never sold nor documented. However, in 1977, Warhol and assistant Ronnie Catrone started experimenting with canvases prepared with metallic compounds which were then pissed upon, resulted in dramatic colors, mostly golds and greens, which were more interesting and sellable. These paintings are more specifically referred to as the oxidation paintings.

 

From 1977 – 78, Warhol produced a whole series of oxidation paintings, with Catrone and Hugo Victor, the boyfriend of fashion designer, Halston, taking turns urinating on canvases. According to author Paul Alexander¹, "Rumor had it that Warhol chose Hugo to do the urinating because Hugo had an unusually large bladder, not to mention an unusually large penis.” According to one of his collaborators, the piss paintings "were surprisingly well received when they were displayed in Europe the following year. One critic hailed them as 'Warhol at his purest'”. In America, the paintings were not shown in a group, until a 2002 exhibition of Warhol’s piss and sex paintings.

 

 

Was Andy Warhol gay?

For some reason, many reference sources, including Wikipedia, struggle to answer this question in a straight forward manner. Andy Warhol was totally queer. Perhaps, the confusion about his sexuality is the result of Warhol’s own calculated control of his public image, which he cultivated to support his achievement of fame and wealth. In his artwork, he covertly broadcasted his involvement with gay subculture, as in his portraits of gay icons and drag queens, the significance of which mainstream America was oblivious to at the time. Later in his career when he had achieved fame, Warhol even writes in his book, The Warhol Diaries, about his relationships and fascination with several men.

Was Andy Warhol into Piss?

 

An interview with Steven Daigle.

Steven Daigle has a brand of fame to which few can lay claim. A popular contestant on the CBS network’s reality show, Big Brother Season 10, the openly gay cowboy developed quite a fan base. He also appeared in a 2009 documentary called, the Butch Factor, about gay male identity.

So it’s not surprising that the straight media would react when the gay sex video, Steven Daigle: XXXposed, was released earlier this year.

TMZ, the hyper-tabloid, Hollywood-reporting website, announced, “The gay rodeo champion who was evicted from the Big Brother 10 house has found a new use for his ass-less chaps -- dude is officially entering the world of gay porn.” So what bon-mot would TMZ toss out if they knew that the rising star was also a fan and participant in Piss Porn?

In Steven Daigle: Stalked, our hero engages in some very piggy sex play. Only in the Director’s Cut of the video, do we get to see Steven’s first piss scene. As he power-fucks Tommy Defendi in a sling, Tyler Saint lets loose with a hot stream over them both. Not a big piss scene, but a start.

In an interview with Steven earlier this week, we discussed the reality of making piss porn. He said, “(Stalked) was my first time doing piss in front of the camera. Since then I have done another piss scene for Chi Chi (Larue) in a new series called, Raising the Bar. My piss scene is in the last episode in a group scene. You should like it.”

Steven is getting a lot of notice for his work, including from Michael Lucas, the reigning king of New York gay porn. Steven said, “I just finished shooting an entire piss movie for MIchael Lucas with Conner Habib. We piss on each other, in each other’s mouths and pretty much everywhere!” The video (Steven's scenes were just shot this past week) is yet to be titled.

I tried to pry a few Piss Porn Secrets out of Steven, but he insists that there really aren’t any, “Just basic – Lots of water.” He also like to have a scene partner with whom he can feel completely relaxed.

He does admit to learning one lesson. “Skip taking vitamins for a couple days. When I pissed on a group of guys in Chi Chi's movie it was very yellow and very foul smelling!”

I say this in all honesty, Steven. You can piss on me any time you want, vitamins or not.

For those of you, who wonder if Steven gets into piss in his real life, check out this homemade video posted of him and fellow porn actor, Drew Cutler, having a wet old time at a Manhunt Party.

For a lot more fun with Steven, check out his own website at www.stevenexposed.com. You can also follow him on Twitter, @StevenFromBB10. “I’m always sharing a little bit of my life, for better or worse.”

To see some of Steven’s videos, you can check them out in the PissPigs Theaters.

The following excerpt was taken from an article in the New York Times about running in the New York Marathon.   Readers had written in to ask their questions.

 

Beware if You're on Lower Level of Bridge

Q. Are the rumors of golden showers on the lower level of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge accurate? I’m one of the lucky ones in the Green wave, and I’m wondering if I should buy an umbrella hat for myself.

A. "Golden showers" — couldn’t have put it better myself.

There’s not much modesty in marathoning. For those people who can’t deconstruct a metaphor, it is true that many male runners on the upper deck of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, having had too much water waiting in Fort Wadsworth, or having too much nervous energy, simply relieve themselves over the side of the bridge in the race's first mile. Beware the wind. Pity the people on the lower deck of the bridge.

An editor friend of mine, when running New York for the first time, said he wondered why the side lanes of the lower deck of the bridge were so wide open. He was excited to move into the space, until he started feeling and smelling some pungent precipitation: golden showers.

Stick to the inside of the lower level, just to be safe. A baseball cap might be more aerodynamic.