Michael Musto has used this space to talk about how the in-crowd is tiring of Lady Gaga. And I have basically told Madonna to give it up now that Gaga has arrived on the scene. And yes, we, like all good gays, will continue to sing her praises.

As will MAC. This spring Gaga joins the venerable Cyndi Lauper as the face of Viva Glam, MAC’s AIDS-charity fundraising lipstick. And it is just another sign that Gaga’s arrived. Posing with Lauper, a survivor, and a true original, she holds her own. And the two do have a lot in common: fashion and they can actually sing. Yes, Madge. I said it.

Other MAC Viva Glam faces have included Pamela Anderson, RuPaul, Mary J. Blige, Lil’ Kim, and Christina Aguilera. So Lauper and Gaga fit right in with those hot tranny messes. We’re still going Gaga for her over here at SUNfiltered.

“Mac and Retna are unlikely partners. Mac is a photorealist, Retna is all brush.” More unlikely still is the fact that their giant murals, usually the stuff of city streets, have been popping up in places like Art Basel, Miami and on September 26th at the Robert Berman Gallery in Los Angeles. While the photorealism portion is certainly the focus of the murals, it’s Retna’s calligraphic contribution I’m more interested in. The background of piece above, which debuted at Art Basel, a kind of deconstructed Old English, could stand on its own as a pattern. 

“Vagos y Reinas” at the Robert Berman Gallery from Sept. 26 – Oct. 7