Posted by:

Lenora (and Lenora) on Lenora

Monday, April 27, 2009 10:43 AM

tags: Austin Young, Bettie Page: Heaven Bound, Julie Strain, Lenora Claire, Olivia, World of Wonder Storefront Gallery

The picture above is of the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery's guest curator, Lenora Claire, spanking HERSELF (dressed as the 50s fetish model, Bettie Page) in a photo by celebrity photographer Austin Young. As she tells it, the seeds of her obsession with Bettie, started long, long ago, in a place far, far away from Hollywood:

"As a teen growing up in the Valley who didn't fit the typical tan, impossibly thin, beauty standard, Bettie Page helped shape both my sexuality and literal (or would figurative be more appropriate) shape as my awareness of her lead me in to the world of corsetry, impossibly high heels, and other essential elements of my personal (and sometimes painful) style. While my taste, as well as cup size, has grown and changed it's been really wonderful to get this opportunity to reconnect and remember why Bettie was so important to me then, as well as see her go from fetishized cult cutie to full blown legend. I first became aware of Olivia at the age of 15 when I snuck behind the curtain at Golden Apple and saw her gorgeous painting of Julie Strain (who I later worked with in the film the Devil's Muse) on the cover of the now definitive but defunct Tease magazine (I later became the Tease girl in ads a few years later.) From that point on I was completely obsessed with her work, and my teenage bedroom (seen HERE) was covered with her images, as well as photos of Bettie. I never in a million years ever imagined that I would get to pose for Olivia (see image HERE) or get to work so closely with her on a project like this Bettie show. Olivia is an absolute goddess worshiped by everyone from Hugh Hefner (an original Olivia piece appears in every issue of Playboy) to the amazing models she's worked with Pamela Anderson, Courtney Love, Margaret Cho, Dita, etc. While Bettie is a muse to many, nobody has captured her charms better than Olivia. I really can't wait for her to reveal her new work including some impossibly beautiful watercolors at the May 2nd opening of Bettie Page: Heaven Bound."