EDGE on the Net

David Hockney, whose paintings of beautiful boys in shimmering Los Angeles swimming pools have become icons & who is considered Britain’s greatest living artist, has been named to the ultra-prestigious Order of Merit in the Queen’s New Year’s Honors List.

A major exhibition that includes a film of ants crawling on a crucifix opens next week at the Brooklyn Museum, an institution known for presenting edgy and bold artworks.

An enamel black-and-white brooch by Roy Lichtenstein that recalls his pop art designs. A bold gilt-painted necklace twisted into a bowtie by Frank Stella inspired by his sculptural forms and reliefs.

GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, will honor Chaz Bono, Michele and Rob Reiner, Wells Fargo, Phoenix Suns President and CEO Rick Welts and the 2011 Student Advocate of the Year at its seventh annual Respect Awards.

For Tiberio Simone and Matt Freedman, two of the most beautiful things in the world are food and the human body - not necessarily in that order. "Food is not just sustenance to me," said Simone, a James Beard award-winning chef.

Whether through activism, business ownership, historic preservation, or as cultural curators, the gay community is changing the landscape of Detroit.

Brooklyn’s old Bushwick neighborhood has quickly become a new world-class arts mecca - with music, dance, sculpture and theater bursting from defunct warehouses and desolate streets where gangs still roam.

Ifti Nasim - the gay Pakistani Muslim poet, activist and Chicago radio show host - strode in wearing leather pants, a leather overcoat and pimp hat with feather.

Tom Goss does it all--he writes, plays, produces, distributes, markets, and tours. He doesn’t have a record label behind him. What he’s got is his own determination to get his music out there.

Museum experts are weighing in on a censorship controversy at the Smithsonian Institution and what it means for publicly funded museums at a time when arts funding has been targeted for deep budget cuts.