Gay American Singer Omar Apollo Opens Up About Being Painted Nude For Album Artwork
Image: Omar Apollo Instagram
Out gay American Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Omar Apollo has opened up about the process of being painted nude for his recently released EP, Live For Me.
The EP’s front cover features a painting of Apollo, 26, touching his chest. The album’s back cover apparently features a painting of Apollo’s erect penis.
The artwork was painted by Queer artist Doron Langberg.
A Peek Behind The Scenes
At an “immersive listening experience” for Live For Me, held at the Museum of Modern Art’s PS1 contemporary art institute in Queens, Apollo and Langberg shared a peek behind the scenes.
In a video, posted to X by Senior Vice President of Communications at The Trevor Project Kevin Wong, Apollo said, “We go into his studio, which I’ve already been in, we hung out, we talked, we had a great time, we connected. Then, we do the first painting. And then I go, ‘Let’s go get a sandwich, let’s go do a lunch break, and then you decide afterwards if you still want to do the dick portrait.’”
Langberg added, “I could tell that you were nervous about it.”
“I was nervous about it,” Apollo responded, “I’m a confident guy, don’t get me wrong, but I was nervous about it.”
“But also I could tell that you wanted to do it,” Langberg said. “I was like, ‘How do I encourage this and make you feel comfortable?’”
Omar Apollo recalls the day *THAT* EP artwork was painted pic.twitter.com/PquS9d8Rf8
— Kevin Wong 🚀 (@kwprime) October 27, 2023
‘It Was Exhilarating’
The inspiration for the “dick portrait” came from a photo taken by Queer photographer Peter Hujar.
Apollo explained, to laughs and cheers from the audience, that Langberg painted “from observation”, adding, “it was exhilarating. I was like ‘woah! What is happening?’”
In a post to Instagram in August, Langberg wrote, “Painted the shimmering talent that is @omar.apollo for the cover of his new EP ‘Live for Me’ out Oct 6.”
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The Moment He Realised He Was Gay
In a May 2022 interview with fashion designer Willy Chavarria for the New York Times, Apollo revealed the moment he realised he was gay.
He was asked if he was openly gay in high school.
“No, I didn’t even know I was gay,” Apollo responded.
“OK, I did — but not really. I was 17 when it really hit me, and I remember I was in the shower like, ‘Damn, that’s crazy.’
When the realisation hit him, Apollo said that he did not immediately come out. “I just made music about … things,” he said.
Apollo: My Queerness Is Who I Am
Speaking about how he is perceived, Apollo said, “I try never to think about the way I’m perceived. It’s impossible for me to force my queerness because it’s just who I am.
When it came to relationships Chavarria asked Apollo, “What do you think is worse: having a broken heart or breaking someone else’s heart?”
“I’d rather be broken up with,” Apollo responded. “I’m an empath — I feel too much of the other person. I don’t know, there’s something nice about sitting with sadness. I’ve been carrying it my whole life.”
Apollo has sung about his queerness in multiple songs, including, “Kamikaze” and “Bi Fren”, which are on his Apolonio mixtape, released in 2020.
Live For Me was released on October 6 and features four songs including “Pilot”, “Angel”, “Live For Me”, and “Ice Slippin”.
Live For Me is Apollo’s fourth EP. In 2018, he released Stereo, followed by Friends in 2019. In 2022 he released Live at NPR’s Tiny Desk.
In April 2022, Apollo released his debut album, Ivory. It got him a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist.
