Artists

My latest body of work presents portraits of gay men. The paintings and prints can be looked at in different levels. Formally, some are head studies, others are full-figure portraits, different from classical portraiture in several ways. Many have a single monochrome background, the different colors give different moods to each work. The subjects stand in a decided “non-pose” – erect, arms limp at their sides, with no facial expressions or body movements. They don’t stand in classical “Contrapposto” style, the Italian art historical term referring to the weight of the body resting on one leg, causing an asymmetrical sway in the pose. The men shoot a blank stare at the viewer, they don’t smile or frown. They could be looked at as confrontational.

But another way to look at them is that the subjects are not looking at the viewer, but at themselves in a mirror. Their pose is like one that someone would make putting on a new outfit in a clothing store, trying to see if they look good. Evaluating themselves. So the work is also about Gay Male Identity. You would have to know each model to know a lot about their identity, just seeing their image can only tell you so much. They are all friends of mine that I respect on different levels, and most tend to be Urban guys (from the New York City area). Each has their own story; I would do them a disservice to try to explain things about any of them here. But at the very least my intent was to capture a likeness, to in some way tangibly hold on to and record people I love in a transient world.