There’s a part in Brian Anderson’s Vice documentary, when he describes his type of guy as a bear. It only makes sense then that a year later he would celebrate his coming out—not of the closet, but of the cave—with his bearish husband, Andrew. The result was “Cave Homo” a zine, painting, art, photo show all about BA being the gnarliest homo on a board.

This month was Pride Month, and in a rare instance of skater cross promotion, the party brought together skateboarders, art folks, and some big men to a crowded SoHo gallery space. BA’s been on somewhat of a press tour since his coming out doc, and the Cave Homo release show felt like a way to take all the labels people give him—legendary skater, LGBTQ activist, talented artist—and mix ‘em into one big party, leather BDSM masks included.

The man—or really men—of the hour: BA and his husband Andrew. Congratulations to both of them! I have no idea if their life plans are changing at all now that they’re married, but if they ever adopt a kid I’m gonna be jealous as fuck of that little human. BA is connected to so many different scenes (Anti Hero, Lady Gaga… etc) no matter what that kid is into they would excel instantly. I think I finally understand what rappers mean when they describe someone as being “the plug”.

Brian Anderson is one of the few skaters who can pull off black and white photos of his tattoos and not seem either pretentious or goofy. Could you imagine a photo series of Sheckler’s or Nyjah’s tattoos? I hear staring directly into Nyjah’s throat tattoo for an entire minute will make you hallucinate just as much as an eighth of shrooms.

To the left we have a picnic themed man, and to the right we have Shaggy, the notorious letter writer. Yup, this guy used to send letters via snailmail to skate mags so often that he made a name for himself as a character and even got a full blown New York Times profile. When The NYT asked him about his favorite activity, he said, “jumping over passed-out drunk people at Union Square” and sent them a video to prove it. Legendary.

Super heavy trio right here, so I’m going to try and not fuck this one up. To the left we have Dave Ortiz of DQM, in the middle is Dante Ross, legendary A&R hip hop trailblazer, and to the right we have Reda, who you probably know as a skate photographer and one of skateboarding’s greatest shit talkers.

Clark Hassler coverage is so rare, this photo actually counts as a clip. And despite not showing any logo on his hat or shirt, he will get photo incentive from his sponsors.

I’ve been trying to think of a way to categorize Brian’s skating using something other than typical skate slang, and it’s clear now the word to use is leonine. He skates big, fast, and fierce, but always with grace, just like the leopard tatted on his back and the leopard print on his dome.

Cave Homo wouldn’t have been possible without the two to BA’s left, designer Luke Williams (middle), and photographer Christian Trippe (left). Looking at Christian’s shirt, he clearly has his stripper name picked out (Big & Tasty), but it’s unclear what Luke’s and BA’s stripper names would be… I’m going with Plaid Dragon and Magic Leopard.

Some of Brian’s art on display. Think the Japanese translates to “peace in the world.” No further comments because this isn’t an art critique and I just want more photos of skaters to rag on. Next!

Couple of cuties right here with a third cutie lurking in the background. It’s cool for guys to say “cutie” to one another nowadays, right? Or is it just an appropriation from non-heterosexual cultures that a bland white guy like myself uses to compensate for his inability to confront instances of male beauty? Nah… pretty sure it’s cool.

A somewhat rare sighting of Stefan Janoski, he must have finally dug himself out of those pesky shoe royalty checks that have terribly flooded his mailbox for the last 8 years.

One of the best things about NYC in the summer is being able to spot an art show from six blocks away and knowing they always have free beer, hotties and friends. Plus art. Congrats Brian, we are stoked to see what you do next!

Photos: Ray Llanos
Dumb captions: Nic Nootens & Ian Michna
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