Gay Icon Immortalized

[Kerry]

Gay Icon Immortalized

by Marie Sansom
Inner West Courier, Sydney

4 August 2009

Gay Olympic gold medal winning diver, Matthew Mitcham, has been immortalized in an exhibition at the LipanjePuntin Artecomtemporanea Gallery in Rome.  The exhibition, curated by Mitcham’s friend Jonathan Turner, is titled “Matt Dive Gold.” Mitcham is the Australian 2008 Olympic champion in the 10m platform, having received the highest single-dive score in Olympic history.

The exhibition includes photographs, paintings, sculpture and video by 20 artists from Europe, the USA, Australia and the Middle East.

Mr Turner said the portraits showed what a multifaceted person his friend is.

“He is pensive, funny, inquisitive. He is a bit of an actor in any case,“ Mr Turner said. “Diving commentators always say his diving style is incredibly elegant and he accomplishes the most difficult twists and turns with ease. The innate elegance is reflected in many of the works.”

 

Sydney-based artist, William Yang, produced six portraits of the diver and scrawled his own impressions of Mitcham over his work during the photoshoots.

New York artist , Matt Marello, filmed Mitcham performing a madcap nervous dance before his final Olympic dive, music video director Floria Sigismondi shot underwater footage of Mitcham and Francesca Tulli sculpted him in bronze.

Mr Turner said the show wasn’t about hero worship.  “The basic idea was fun: to create an instant art icon from a sporting figurehead. In a way, he was seen as a contemporary  muse, bridging the very separate worlds of sport and art.”

Mitcham, who is currently in Rome for the World Diving Championships, told a media outlet he was more nervous about the exhibition than his diving. “I can be very outgoing but most of the time I am very shy in public,” Mitcham said. “It will be very bizarre to see all the artworks but I have enjoyed working with some of the artists.”

It is hoped the exhibition will move to Beijing and then Sydney, Mitcham’s home town, after it closes in Rome on September 30.

Matthew Mitcham with partner, Lachlan Fletcher

Why, you may ask, did this article about an art exhibition in Rome, appear in my local newspaper, the Inner West Courier? Well, because Matthew Mitcham is a resident of the Inner West district of Sydney, covered by the Inner West Courier. I live at Annandale and Matthew lives only about a mile or so away from me at Balmain - Kerry

[David In Indy]

Awww! I remember Matthew! He is adorable. And he's an excellent athlete.

You are lucky he lives so close to you Kerry. Maybe you will see him out and about sometime!

[delalluvia]

THANK YOU for posting!!!

Matt and his competition were highlights of watching the Olympics.  What a sweetie and a hottie!!

[Kerry]

Awww! I remember Matthew! He is adorable. And he's an excellent athlete.

You are lucky he lives so close to you Kerry. Maybe you will see him out and about sometime!

Matthew sure is adorable, David.   

I'm so thrilled about this present exhibition in Rome. It's a great honour for Matthew. 

I was over in Balmain earlier today and though I did not see Matthew and Lachlan out and about (they are in Rome just now, where Matthew is competing in the World Diving Championships), I did notice that there's an Ennis Street there!     This is a very gay area!     

This is one of my favourite pics of Matthew:

[Kerry]

THANK YOU for posting!!!

Matt and his competition were highlights of watching the Olympics.  What a sweetie and a hottie!!

Ain't that the truth! 

[Kerry]

Matthew Mitcham

[delalluvia]

Ye gods!!

I love divers.  

Yep, the tux pic is getting saved to my computer.

[Kerry]

Matthew Mitcham

[delalluvia]

OK, he's going to get his own folder. 

[David In Indy]

Matthew sure is adorable, David.  

I'm so thrilled about this present exhibition in Rome. It's a great honour for Matthew. 

I was over in Balmain earlier today and though I did not see Matthew and Lachlan out and about (they are in Rome just now, where Matthew is competing in the World Diving Championships), I did notice that there's an Ennis Street there!     This is a very gay area!    

This is one of my favourite pics of Matthew:

There is an Ennis Street near Matthew? Wow!

That's really cool Kerry!

I don't have anyone famous lving close to me. The closest person to me would probably be Jake Lloyd. He's the boy who played Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars The Phantom Menace. Cute kid. He is now attending college up in Chicago, but his parents still live in Carmel, Ind. Carmel is a suburb of Indianapolis up on the north side.

Anyway, YAY for Matt! He's a talented athlete, very cute and I remember cheering for him during the Olympics. I was so happy to see him win his medals. He deserved it!