GAYLETTER

When I first saw the cover for this attractive coffee table book I thought is was only about the drag queens that populated Andy Warhol‘s Factory. After spending some time flicking through the pages I discovered the real genius of this book. The editors juxtapose drag queens from the 60’s and 70’s (Candy Darling, Jackie Curtis, Marsha P. Johnson, Wilhelmina Ross) with actual royalty (Princess Caroline of Monaco, Farah Diba Pahlavi and the then-Crown Princess Sonja, of Norway). It’s a touching way to show some respect to these phenomenal ladies (I’m talking about the drag queens) who for many years languished on the fringes of society.

“As late as ’67 drag queens still weren’t accepted in the mainstream freak circles. They were still hanging around where they’d always hung around — on the fringes … sticking to their own circles — outcasts with bad teeth and body odour and cheap make-up and creepy clothes. But then, just like drugs had come into the average person’s life, sexual burs did, too, and people began identifying a little more with drag queens, seeing them more as ‘sexual radicals’ than as depressing losers… That’s how in ’68… people started accepting drag queens – even courting them, inviting them everywhere…” — Andy Warhol

Andy’s description of the queens as “outcasts with bad teeth and body odour” may come across as harsh, but he clearly loved these ladies (in as much as Andy could love anyone.) …

Looking at the imagery in his photos, it’s easy to assume that Athens-born photographer Kostis Fokas lives in a world of erotic surreality. A nude body is suspended impossibly on a folding chair in one photo, while a naked back arches in front of a kaleidoscopic baby blue wallpaper of falling umbrellas in the next. Colors are vivid in each of his photos, with the corporeal often shaped into anonymous depictions of the human body that leave very little to the imagination. Take a closer look, and the work transforms even further: Fokas’ work is evocative of fashion editorials and surreal art at once, striking in their ability to construct a world that is as uncanny as it is familiar. Put simply, Fokas’ photographic world is one where the strange becomes delightfully ordinary, where the human body becomes a landscape for unspoken desires and fantasies, and where very little seems to be off-limits.

Fokas, who started shooting at the age of 20 in Athens, now resides on the island of Crete in southern Greece, where he completed work on his latest collection, titled ‘I’m Not Malfunctioning, You Are.’ The project is full of Fokas’ unique brand of the surreal, placing props (condoms, masks, etc.) in close conjunction with his nude subjects. The title evokes the kind of defiance these images often elicit from viewers of the work — although Fokas is never intentionally trying to offend anyone with his photos, there’s no denying the imagery is bound to press a few buttons. …

I’ve had this book in my space for months, it’s so big! I’d take it out, put it on my desk, open it, close it, put it back on the archival shelf for a few weeks then take it out again. This dance went on for months until spring arrived — suddenly it seemed like the right time to have a look at all the luscious, nubile men rendered in brightly saturated technicolor. It’s quite massive with over 45 color plates shot “en plein air” and almost sixty shots from the studio. The classic physique work finds the models brightly lit, well-oiled and nude in some cases; yes full frontal nude! There are few props in the images, a stool, a column, a plastic ball, a cowboy hat and settings that included brightly colored backdrops in the studio or scenes in nature.

“There was no shortage of fit handsome men who were willing to pose naked and the existing evidence suggests that in the beginning (after WWll) at least they were much more likely to be junior varsity quarterbacks than hustlers down on their luck.” This nuance to casting bred a wholesome athletic naiveté — almost a sense of budding optimism to the images, as opposed to a more pornographic edge.

Photographer Bruce Bellas, better known as Bruce of Los Angeles liked the “well-built All American boy, the older brother or more likely retired dad of the sports beauties Bruce Weber has turned into contemporary icons.” This quote is taken from the informative and insightful essay in the book written by longtime Village Voice photography critic Vince Aletti who gives a succinct history of this genre of photography thus gently placing Bruce into it’s midst. …

The photographer and artist Jack Pierson has a new book published by Bywater Bros. Editions and Presentation House Gallery. The publication Tomorrow’s Man, Lynn Valley 9 Book shows a combination of familiar images from Pierson’s collection, vintage ‘Physique’ magazines, celebrity imagery, “oddball ephemera,” and more. It also contains work by other artists including Richard Tinkler, Jeff Elrod, Evan Whale and a short story by Veralyn Behenna entitled ‘The Lobster.’

The softcover book is 6 3/8 x 10 inches with 84 colorful pages and fully illustrated, it’s not your typical photo book, it’s layout is beautifully designed in an unconventional way, using dynamic collages, and images are placed loosely throughout in an inventive way “with complete disregard for page breaks and centerfolds…” I find this book refreshing and inspiring. 

You can get a signed copy by the artist from the Gagosian shop here for $50 (in limited availability), or you can get a regular copy from Printed Matter for $25 here.

Below are a selection of pages from the book:

  …

The exhibition Stroke: From Under the Mattress to the Museum Walls on view at Leslie + Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art until May 25th, is a spectacular show of “erotic illustrations by 25 artists who made work for gay male magazines from the 1950s to the 1990s.” We were lucky enough to have a sit down interview with Robert W. Richards, the artist/curator of the exhibition. Here’s what he had to say.

Where are you from? Originally many moons ago, I’m from Maine. The southern part of Maine. Between Ogunquit and Kennebunkport, but inland. No glamour at all. Actually it was the coast. I left home very young. I was about 15.

So you moved to New York. I moved to Boston. I went to school there and then came to New York in the 60’s.

When did you first start drawing? I never didn’t draw. I always drew. I was one of those kids that stayed by themselves you know. It was either go out and play sports or stay home and color. So I stayed home and colored.

What was the subject matter of your earlier work? My very earliest work was fashion and I did fashion big time. Right up until the mid 70’s. Then I just didn’t want to do it anymore because by that time, it involved traveling a great deal. You know it was a circuit, Paris, London, Rome, Milan, Los Angeles, New York. Which was okay for awhile, it was fun but then when all the couture houses began doing ready-to-wear, they had two showings a year. …

London-based artist Stuart Sandford has been working on his ongoing project ‘Sebastian‘ for the last two years. Sebastian is an 8ft stainless steel statue of the model Sebastian Sauvé taking a selfie. Stuart describes it as a “perfect 21st century embodiment of male beauty that combines new and old technologies and an actual professional model as its basis.” He created this statue with Sebastian in mind, “once the idea was fully formed Sebastian Sauvé was my first choice. I wanted to reference classical works in the look and feel of the piece and he has the perfect look, just check out those lips and nose and profile…” 

We had a chance to ask Stuart and Sebastian a few questions about the project.

Did Sebastian agree to let you mold him into the statue right away? Yeah I emailed him directly through his website and he pretty much got back to me straight away saying he would love to be a part of the project. He mentioned he’d seen my work before, specifically my ‘Cumfaces‘ series from 2007, and liked it.

How did you meet him? We didn’t actually meet face to face until the day of the 3D scanning but we chatted via Skype, I think he was in New York at the time. We sent lots of emails back and forth, I was really interested in his input.

Sebastian, 2014. Cast painted stainless steel, 243cm x 80cm x 65cm.

Do you feel satisfied with the project?  …

We were fascinated by Claire Milbrath‘s Groin Grazing photo series when we first saw it a few weeks ago. Claire lives in Montreal and has been photographing groins for the last 5 months. She started the series in response to the constant objectification of female bodies in mainstream media. We wanted to learn more about the series and her very understandable fascination with men’s bulges so decided to send her a few questions.  

How old are you? Where are you from? How long have you been photographing for? I’m 24 yrs old, I live in Montreal, and I’m from Victoria, British Columbia. I started taking pictures when I was 13, but not seriously until I was about 17.

How long have you been photographing men’s groins for? Only in the last 5 months.

How did you come up with the idea? I’m tired of the excess of female body imagery in fashion and media. I started doing a lot of work for Vice recently, and during that time their fashion issue came out featuring 2 spreads that blatantly objectified women and didn’t do much else artistically. So I pitched a shoot that objectified male bodies; I wanted it to mimic the cK body ads from the 90s, rippling muscles, bulges in underwear, etc, etc. It was Vice’s idea to focus solely on the crotch area.

Have you shown the series in any galleries? No. One gallery in Paris is looking to purchase a couple prints but it hasn’t been confirmed. …