Erotic Art Fair Weekend
A few days ago we mentioned that last weekend was an eventful one with three wildly different events -the GLAAD Media Awards, the GayVN Awards and the 14th Annual Erotic Art Fair Weekend sponsored by the Tom of Finland Foundation. We've already reported on the awards shows and though we would have loved to have attended them and give you firsthand accounts we feel very fortunate that we attended the Art Fair here in West Hollywood.
The Erotic Art Fair turned out to be a fun and fascinating event where we were privileged to meet some exceptionally talented artists and photographers and where we viewed a beautiful spectrum of erotic male art. There were artists and photographers who have been creating erotic masterpieces for decades, erotic pop artists, comics creators and graphic novelists, all displaying their craft for a very appreciative audience. There was even new art being created thanks to the appearances of beautiful live models. Plus, on display was the classic male erotic art of Tom Of Finland and the brand new book Tom Of Finland: XXL (more on this unbelievable book in a bit).
Being that Jack Manly and company are into comics and graphic novels we naturally gravitated to many of the creators who were present. Most of them are self-published and have joined forced to produce a color sampler of their work called Bent Comix. They're also building a website (www.bentcomix.com) which when finished will feature more information about the guys and ordering information. In some cases we knew these guys already and were ecstatic to see them again and their work. Here's a rundown of the guys, their titles and where you can see their work:
Sean-Z, Rated-Z Studios, Myth : www.rated-z.com . Sean is an absolute sweetheart. This handsome well-built and charming guy is talented and imaginative and we were delighted to get reacquainted..
Steve Macisaac, Drawn Out Press, Shirtlifter: www.stevemacisaac.com. Steve has been creating brilliant slice of life comics for several years (Sticky) has gotten well-deserved critical acclaim.
Brad Rader, Flaming Art Press, True Adult Fantasy: www.flamingartist.com. Brad has been involved in animation and mainstream comics for several years and has recently completed a graphic novel soon to be published by DC Comics.
JC Etheredge, Clydeworld Comics, Anti-Heroes: www.anti-heroes.net. As the title suggests JC's comics are not your typical super-hero material. They're satirical, adult fantasies mixed with delightfully twisted humor.
Belasco, Belasco Comix, Boo and others: www.belasco-comix.com. Belasco has been doing hot, sexy and well drawn adult comics for several years. Often wicked and dirty-sexy, they're the kind of stories that you wish they'd do on camera. Terrific guy to talk to also.
Dave Davenport, Hard To Swallow Comics: www.hardtoswallowcomics.com. Dave does an amazing job using different genres to create his own unique and sexy books with a hot twist.
Justin Hall, All Thumbs Press, Glamazonia: www.allthumbspress.com. Justin has created a tranny super-hero whose adventures a witty as well as political satire. There's nothing else like this.
Ed Lude, Wuvable Oaf: www.wuvableoaf.com. Ed has created a great character Oaf. a big and strapping stud whose dating misadventures make for hilarious mini-stories.
Sam Saturday, Load: www.loadworldcomics.com. Sam has a weekly three panel comic strip that looks like its got cute characters and simple visual jokes when in fact its all sex humor, and not tame at that.
Mark Padilla & Johnny Nolen, Planet Gay XXXPress: www.gravityfaggot.com. Sexy, well-drawn heroes and outer space adventures with juicy sex thrown in. Great merchandise too. You'll probably be surprised to know that former porn star extra-hot Dick Wolf is one of the brains behind this company.
We visited all the booths, looked at all the art and got a chance to chat with several of the artists on hand and here are some of the other highlights:
--Curry Mendes is a digital artist whose work is fascinating, dynamic, and often vibrant. You can see more of his unique art at www.currymendes.com.
--Roscoe may have been influenced by Tom of Finland & Vargas but he has his own unique style that's playful, witty, unapologetically sexual, and well-crafted. He has several original characters and his own books----pretty goof for someone who didn't start working at it professionally until AFTER he was 40. You can see more of him at www.roscoestuff.com
Curry Mendes work A model AT work
-- Cavelo has been drawing for several decades now, his work having appeared in Zeus publications, Drummer, etc. He's illustrated many stories and often his art tells a story on its own--handsome, well built men finding themselves in precarious bondage situations. If you like to see beautifully rendered heroic figures in peril Cavelo is your guy. You can see more of his work here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cavelo_fanclub/
--Skobar is a very talent photographer, designer and artist from Venezuela whose sensually striking photos were on display at the fair. This soft-spoken man has been published worldwide and when you check out his site you'll get a good idea why-- www.skobarphoto.com.
--John Hough is another artist with an eye for beauty and the talent for capturing it on film. He has been photographing the beauty of the male physique for decades and still enjoys what he does--we all would, wouldn't we? You can see more of his work at www.thesensualman.com
--Henning Von Berg is a remarkably talented photographer whose work you've probably seen and didn't know it (for example, he produced some of the most striking and exciting photos for the A + F catalog). Aside from his classic book Alpha Males he has been so widely published that we don't have room here to list it all. But you can all the info at www.henning-von-berg.com.
As you can see there were live models on display at the main stage where they could be sketched and photographed. They provided a very interesting focal point for the festival (as though it needed it!) and we got off a few shots (photos, that is).
Of course there was plenty of beautiful Tom of Finland art on display and like all great art, the real thing is far more impressive than any reproduction. Fortunately the Tom of Finland Foundation exists to preserve the late artist's work and promote other artists. By the way, did you know that the Permanent Collection with over 2000 original works by Tom and another 1500 works by other artists and the Archives with over half a million images is located in Los Angeles? Located in a Craftsmen house there is a revolving exhibition on display for anyone to see by appointment.
If you can't see any of the timeless original art of Tom of Finland the next best thing is the new book Tom Of Finland: XXL. As we mentioned it was on display and it's unarguably stunning. Taschen Books has done such a remarkable job putting this huge book together and we can't recommend it more highly.
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