"Have mercy on me," said Henry Kissinger as he was about to be photographed by Richard Avedon. Avedon was known for his ability to lay bare the souls of his subjects, often photographing them against totally white or otherwise stark backgrounds. At one time, Avedon was the highest paid fashion an

Documentary photography, Dramatic, Elegant, Eroticism , Fashion photography, Gritty, Intimate, Severe, Spare

Buddhist, male-to-female transsexual Performance artist, gender educator, and author of the iconoclastic book "Gender Outlaw," Kate Bornstein brushes aside the confinements of gender categorization. At age 37, after three marriages and many years as a Scientology spokesman, Al Bornstein decided to be

Intimate, Mythic, Queer art, Queer literature, Quirky

Perhaps the most famous of all outsider artists, Joseph Cornell is best known for the shadow box collages he assembled in the basement of the Queens home he shared with his mother and brother. His assemblages usually include dolls, thimbles, engravings, magazine pictures, and pretty much anything he

Collage, Contemplative, Intimate, Layered, Serene, Surreal, Surrealist art

Gaping orifices stuffed full with skulls, orifices sprouting trees, fingers pointing towards orifices, orifices inside of which open still more orifices -- in short, an entire art of the orifice. Such is the production of Francesco Clemente, Neo-Expressionist painter and leading figure of the Italian

Elegant, Homoerotic, Intimate, Neo-expressionism, Rebel, Spare, Sublime