San Francisco Art Spotting: Wendy MacNaughton

This week, GayCities takes you beyond the museum and down the city’s alley ways and unexplored sidewalks for an insider’s look at the queer artists who’ve made San Francisco their ultimate canvas.

We loved how carried away Wendy MacNaughton got with her creative liberties after commissioning her to illustrate a map of the world according to gays for our Best of GayCities 2010. Ever since, we’ve been eagerly following her paint strokes all throughout town.

“Coffeeshops, the streets, and public transportation,” Wendy cites as her inspiration. “Sorry I can’t be more specific, but everywhere you look in San Francisco there is inspiration. Now what it inspires is another story…”

Wendy’s illustrations have appeared in 7×7, Time Out New York, The New York Times Book Review, and GOOD magazine. And now, you can spot her work in person – beyond print and all over the walls.

The Dinostore in the Haight has designer sneakers in every color of the rainbow, but if you lift your gaze just a bit, you’ll find that the walls, in just plain black and white, give the store an artsy look. That’s because the black marker stylings pointing to different directions of the San Francisco “street” community were done by none other than Wendy.

The Dinostore Shop and Onitsuka Tiger commissioned Wendy to sharpie the white walls to her liking – scribbles and all.

Click on the next page to see more photos of her work inside the Dinostore, plus more of our favorite Wendy MacNaughton illustrations.

Photos courtesy of Wendy MacNaughton.

  It’s true: the West Coast is all Cher, Shirtless Boys, and Lipstick Lesbians.
For Longshot magazine’s “Debt” issue, Wendy created an illustration linking intellectual debt throughout time. Oscar Wilde, Stephen Sondheim… can you spot any more other gays?
For TheRumpus.net, Wendy has created an illustrated series titled “Meanwhile.” She sure can capture that puppy dog look of Mission bartenders.

 

 

 

 

 

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