Vintage Season 6 - Hand Made by .... who?

David George (by Bruce of LA)

This cute model has a pleasing balance of muscularity and litheness and his face has a touch of butch ruggedness set off by that raffish quiff. You can imagine that this young man takes quite a pride in his dress normally. But although his G-string does not look out of place in this arty image and is of a sensible size, you can see that it doesn't seem very well made, the side seam is ruched up as though the thread is too tight. Perhaps the cotton shrank when washing out the traces of a previous wearer?

Unidentified

It's hard to imagine a stylish man about town being happy at being asked to wear this garment! The sides appear to be sewn up with string or leather, Native American style (if that's not an insult to the craft skills of those people). I can only imagine that it's holding some sort of tough lining in place, possibly an inner device designed to produce the projecting effect, although that tip looks like the real thing. The creases underneath are probably due to some other tailoring that is accentuating his balls. I don't think his mother made this for him!

Marty Shimkus (by Kris)

Another example of tailoring designed to lift and separate, but more skillfully executed. Despite the movie star pose this is an unashamedly erotic image and an astonishing example of just how far the sometimes despised G-string allowed photographers to go, pubic hair and all. I'm quite sure I'm not the only man who finds this close-up amply rewarding. The snug fit is a joy. There's another view of Marty's tackle in my previous post. 

Gene Meyer (AMG)

 You have to feel for this model, he's got pumped-up muscles, well distributed body hair and a mean and moody look, but they've made him wear the strangest of G-strings, looking more like his granny's old-fashioned, soft furnishings than manly sexy clothing. You can almost see his annoyance. It makes me wonder if some mischievous, back-room boy deliberately put together this item with the intention of embarrassing the wearer(s).

Andy Kozak & Vern Charles (AMG)

Andy's covering in this picture seems to have similar properties, thick looking material with oddly bulky side seams. Perhaps this pouch was designed for a winter shoot in a cold room. Taken by the same studio as Gene (above), it might even be the same garment (what tales it might have told us!). In this position it produces the peculiar effect of seeming to be attached to the supporting string only at the corner tips, like washing hanging on a line or that awful curtaining pinned up by those disinclined to put up conventional rails.

Don Fuller

 Don Fuller was a stalwart of the G-string era and some of his images are excellent but this posing pouch won't have won many converts to the cause. Workmanship aside, what's odd here is that although there is a strong intimation of something heavy hanging down inside, the top line is absolutely horizontal instead of showing the dipping curve you would expect. The supporting string looks more like cord than the usual flexible elastic but even allowing for some extra stiffness on that account, it still seems to defy the laws of physics. You might also wonder what is that oddly flat shape sitting at the bottom and pulling it down? Has he stowed his credit cards there? It's possible it's just a clumsy cover up of the dreaded penis head of course.

 

Nestor - by Danny Fitzgerald (Les Demi Dieux)

This is one of my favourite G-string images. A well muscled chest, cute face and an unusual pose that looks like the naughty boy waiting outside the headmaster's study for his misdemeanours to be dealt with. The seated position does not make great demands on his G-string but it looks almost as if it is torn at the side and hanging down.

"Fighting again is it, Jones? Well see about that!"

 More next time

Read this series from Part 1

Vintage Season 5 - Size Matters

After the string of faked G-string/Posing Pouches in preceding posts, the images in this one seem to be slightly more authentic and closer to what nature intended but perhaps a little lacking in erotic purpose. After all the aim of this garment is draw attention to (near) nudity and to hint at eroticism at the very least, otherwise you might as well clad your model in conventional, uncontroversial swimming trunks or shorts. So why present a model in a piece of cloth so large that it looks like a babies nappy, as in this picture of Forrester Millard?
(see also Donnie Kay in No2 of this series)

 Forrester Millard

The model's pose in this photo seems beyond reproach so perhaps the excessive pouch size is mocking the censorship of genuine 'nude art' by exaggeration. On the other hand it might simply be a device to make less obvious the hint of 3-piece suite daringly showing through at the bottom of the (wetted?) pouch. Unfortunately this stratagem seems to diminish the model's credentials as well. It does look as though model modesty can be discounted as a factor in this particular case though.

Artie Zeller and Marvin Eder (Keeling)

Marvin Eder seems to be just as bemused himself in this picture by 'Lon' which might be entitled 'You can look but you can't touch'. Actually this is a daring pose in some ways, hinting none too subtly at domination, bondage and manly interest in the nether regions. Of course, the Grecian column brands it as just a historical re-enactment, so that's alright then.

These two models have deliciously plush upholstery that goes a long way to mitigate that unappealing garment that bizarrely forms the focus of the image. I have a much nicer image of Artie coming up in a later article.

 

Marty Shimkus by Kris

You can almost glimpse another rationale for the oversize pouch in this example, with it's suggestion of a full erection created by artful folds and shadows. You can see there's complex multiple light sources involved in making this happen but I suspect there's a bit of touching up as well, either way I doubt it would have got into widespread print 'uncorrected'.

Once more this image dallies with S&M with the appearance of a whip augmented with rather vicious-looking extensions. The model's penitent pose with downcast eyes feeds into the suggested punishment theme. He seems to await his fate, draped with the implement that will deliver it. His G-string has a slightly less improvised quality than the previous two with proper side-hems visible, but then, the implied sub-text of ancient slavery does not require stylish gear for authenticity.

Forrester Millard + ano

In this picture it all gets distinctly jokey. Forrester Millard again with another model I haven't identified (but who bears a bizarre resemblance to a well known current British Football manager). The two men link arms outrageously like a promenading couple, hands on hips. Forrester eyes his companion's diminutive cover garment with something like disapproval or disdain.

You can see here how the smaller garment exposes more of the abdomen which is potentially a zone of erotic stimulation. Consequently that area has been shaved of pubic hair and possibly painted over in the photo as well to hide any unsavoury undulations, since in the eyes of the censors that was just as objectionable as the actual organs down below. It's quite likely Millard's expression is sarcastically drawing attention to the un-natural clean up. So here's another explanation of the high line garment - to avoid all possibilty of falling foul of the law. However there are traces of Millard's own pubic hair as well, above the 'string line'.

Jerry Ross

These 'large' G-strings came in a range of shapes and sizes. This picture of Jerry Ross (with the old bamboo again - see first pic) illustrates the 'narrow and deep' variant which sucessfully covers hairy zones above the groin and permits long penis-like shapes to be hinted at (as with Marty Shimkus above). Of course it doesn't deal with lateral hair growth quite as well and you might detect suspicious effects in this area on close inspection. At this point it might occur to you that hunting the alterations can become quite an erotic hobby! The streamlined, plunging shape of Jerry's garment lengthens his legs and links up nicely with the shadows at the side of his body/six pack, they angle downwards in the same direction creating a harmonious flow of lines whose focal point is......... you guessed! My copy of this photo credits AMG but the outdoor location makes me wonder about that.

Giancarlo Zampetti 

Here we have the wide and shallow variant photographed by British photographer John Barrington. It looks altogether more comfortable and arguably presents a more impressive sense of being filled with earthly delights than most of the others in this group. The width helps to accentuate the model's body bulk rather than his litheness, the reverse of the image above. If you compare the last two pictures their disparate garments almost reverse the model's relative sizes and shaping.

Andy Kosac (foreground), Vernon Miller, Forrester Millard

A splendid example of little and large G-strings. In this picture the pubic hair region of the lead model has not only been 'cleansed' but enthusiatically embellished with fanciful shadows that don't correspond with male anatomy. Kozacs scanty G-string appears to have gone unscathed in this process and that honesty makes a decent case for the garment as an erotic accessory. However it's the big fellows at the back that surrepticiously provide the most explicit imagery with rounded ball pairs showing clearly through their more capacious coverings. This sneaky incongruity must have surely thrilled the target audience.

I wonder who contributed their prized persian carpet for this scene? It conjures up the image of a slave being readied for sale in the bazaar so it's disconcerting to realise that those are actually handcuffs going on his wrists not antique chains. Nevertheless, Kosacs is almost into bondage here and make a decent fist of struggling against it. Unfortunately his cute companions seem more like paid attendants, politely dressing their charge and finding the complexities of the handcuffs more of a problem than his feigned resistance.
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(L to R) Juwa LaVonce, Howard Heidtmann and Don Hawksley

This picture by AMG (and it has to be them with bricks and bins in the background!) makes me wonder if models supplied their own G-strings. These ones certainly don't appear to have all come off the same production line. So we have Juwa modestly opting for the safety of size, Howard going for tight definition, just like his own body, while ragamuffin Don simply offers up a good handful neatly presented. Even G-string sceptics would surely be interested in taking their pick from this line-up. Notice how the actual colour of the string in all these pictures makes a surprising difference to it's prominence and through that the acceptability of it's appearance.

More next time

Read this series from Part 1

Vintage Season 4 - G-String Mysteries

 What do you make of this picture? It's obviously a magnificent torso image and that owes much to the skill of the photographer in preparing the oily model (I'll help with that!) and then audaciously cropping the image, removing half his head and outer limbs. It's awash with sensuality and for my money this G-string does not look at all out of place. The skimpy proportions and froth of pubic hair are unavoidably erotic when you're as close as this of course but it's shape is quite attractive too, with dipping curves seeming to echo the underside of the model's buttocks, like the overlapping scallops on a posh pelmet. 

But hang on, what's happening to the support string on the left? It is definitely real - you can see the indentation and shadowing of the hip flesh quite clearly. As it approaches the pouch, however, it seems to dive down and miss the point where you would expect it to join up and disappear inside the top hem. In contrast, the right-hand string appears to fully obey the normal laws of keeping up drawers. The more you look at the pouch, however, the more it seems to be hovering in the air, just in front of the model, but I can't decide if it's totally faked (despite the beguilingly realistic right hand string), or if it's actually attached to some other device behind, which we can't see.  

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Exhibit 'B' is another typical WPG image of two shapely men enjoying the sunshine. Their poses do not look natural, comfortable or stable and that tends to produce a corresponding, dissatisfied feeling in the viewer. However, if you allow your eye to rove over the torso areas you can see how the curves of their muscles and bodies seem to fit together and subtly complement each other. Thus the shoulder and pec of the model at the back fits into the curve of his companion's armpit, while the sweep of his tilted-back neck leads the eye down the plane of his chest to sweep across the concave shape of the nearer man's abdominal cavity and thence inside his G-string. This requires very clever crafting of the model's positions. It not only looks nice but visually suggests an intimacy between them and is thus erotic as well as arty. The overall composition is not entirely sucessful but you can see how judicious cropping might easily produce an image just as spectacular as the first example.

The G-strings in this picture are not clear, but they form different and slightly odd shapes, the one at the back strangely mounded while that at the front seems to taper off in mid air instead of continuing between the legs. It has a rigid shell-like appearance, a construction which would avoid inadvertant shaping of the garment to the objects inside. It lends some support to my conjectures about the shield-like appearance of the G-string in the first picture.

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This image also creates that shell like impression, with side strings again that don't go where you would expect. The curve of the top hem seems un-naturally rounded but that creates an unexpected peeking opportunity. It's another example of the Studio's low key eroticism and their refined artistry is illustrated here in the echoing double curves of pecs and knees (and the same shaped G-string between them). Also the elegantly flowing body lines like those of a diver. He's quite cute too!

Despite the Western theme, I don't think this is a WPG image and there's none of their artistry in this stilted pose (how I hate hands on hips!) or the lighting which does little for the muscularity on show. This shot relies more on the inherent appeal of the handsome model and on props to make it interesting but there's a very clear gulf in quality.

It's not a good copy but you get the distinct impression that this chap's pouch has been well and truly doctored. The black shadowing around the irregular shaped white patch makes it look 'applied' and the string is also unconvincing, not seeming to quite connect with the hem. Remember though that these disguises were intended to look just that, enough to be decent but unmistakably hiding something more tasty whose outline, surprisingly, can actually be discerned in the shadowing.
This feels like the tail starting to wag the dog!

More next time

Read this series from Part 1

I'd welcome ID information on the models in this article

Vintage Season 3 - More Puzzles in G-strings

Billy Joe Carr

Billy Joe Carr posing nude with his favourite record.

His chunky torso belies his boyish-looking face, but it shows lots of pleasing curves without the bony-looking, extra detailing which shows up in ultra-lean physiques like that of Jack Thomas in No 1 of this series. Only the slicked-back hairstyle with quiff dates the model, but the domestic setting around him shows some interesting early sixties taste and technology.

Even if you knew nothing about Harry Belafonte, it's fairly obvious from the picture itself that the inclusion of one of his album sleeves, carefully angled towards us is a very deliberate choice. Given the time the photo was taken (early sixties) I would guess that this is referencing his support for civil rights rather than the gay rights he has also become directly associated with now.

The admiration being shown for him here by a naked white man is not without its own subversive element. This image may also be reflecting the widespread, wishful thinking that Belafonte might himself be gay. The symbolic extraction of his image from the interior of the record player implying a coming-out scenario. Belafonte, however, is married and if you take this picture at face value, so too was Billy Carr who is shown wearing a wedding ring.

 

 Billy Joe in G-string? 

At first sight this looks like an authentic G-string. However, comparison with the previous photo shows it can't be, both pictures are the same. 

 

On closer inspection the shadowing and angling of the just-visible creases and hems, while seemingly real, actually suggest that the garment and its contents are angled to our right whereas Billy Joe's body is facing the other way.  It looks like this G-string cup has been taken from another model and superimposed on the photograph of Billy Joe (an interesting variation on my 'sharing clothes' postings!). 

 

The side strings also perhaps look a bit straighter than you might expect as they curve round behind him. Real or not it's compact size is rather more attractive (or at least more erotically interesting) than that worn by Donnie Kay in my last post. 

Interestingly the model's wedding ring has been blurred out too in the second picture, perhaps this censorship is an early manifestation of the anti 'gay for pay' movement. Whoever imagined that these old porn pictures could have so much sociological significance?

More next time
Read this series from Part 1

Vintage Season 2 - The trouble with G-strings

 Kurt Freeman by Bruce of Los Angeles

This semi-arty style of image was typical of the era of the pouch/string. The open pose is nevertheless fairly erotic. I have always found clothed bodies more interesting than naked ones in general and I must admit I do like the G-string. I know there are those that find them slightly silly but this looks OK to me. Of course you might argue that Kurt Freeman would look good in anything.....

Kurt Freeman with pole

....then again perhaps not.

I don't think this is a painted-on G-string, but it is the wierdest design imaginable. Notice how the top hem is completely horizontal instead of following the curve of the body like the upper picture. Whether real or superimposed the result is neither erotic nor flattering to the physique. It doesn't make Kurt look any less handsome but slightly foolish instead.


Donny Kaye

I don't there's any room for doubt about the authenticity of this garment. It's capacious cut would make any man comfortable - if he had no sense of style that is. In this case I suspect there's something else inside as well, just to prevent any risky shape 'materialising' through oil soaked fabric. It's not nice really and poor Donny seems to be in tears about being made to wear it. That's a truly mitchmen-esque humiliation in it's own way, putting this man firmly in his place, but on the whole I'm at one with the detractors here. 

more next time

Read this series from Part 1

Vintage Season 1 - Now you see it....

A couple of pictures that show the two faces of erotic photography as it used to be.....

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 Don Hawksley 

 

Don Hawksley models an unusual jock-like garment - or is it underwear? Notice how the crossing lines of the hems act almost independently of each other in visual terms making the model simultaneously appear clad at the rear but unclad too. I'm not sure how intentional this was, open backed jock-straps seem to have been acceptable in the 60's. This garment seems to be made of a very clingy material and is possibly wetted to enhance shaping and give a degree of transparency (a practice I noted in my series on Royale studios).

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  Don Hawksley 

 

Same model, same pose, same stool, but now he's jock-less. 

The existence of near-identical nude and clothed photographs was a consequence of the censorship of the times. 

 

Readers knew that the discreet photographs published in magazines were the acceptable advertisement and more daring, exposed (so called 'natural') images were available by post. Not that it was legal to send nude pictures through the post, it wasn't, but obviously it was harder for the authorities to detect that. Studios made a virtue of discreet packaging! 

 

Customers ordering from abroad ran the additional risk of customs inspection which was much more likely to detect undesirable imports. Unfortunately, if found, such items came ready labelled with the recipient's name and address, but if he was lucky it would just be confiscated.

 

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 Jack Thomas

 

A name to conjure with! Jack models here in a posing pouch (to use the coy terminology of the time). It's the same as a G-string but perhaps the female connotations of that expression were too distasteful.

 

The fishing net was a popular posing accessory in the sixties, presumably that's to do with the idea of making a 'catch' as fishermen are not noted for exhibiting nudity (or sex appeal particularly). There's also a connection with gladiators which were a popular cover for nude photography and art. Having said that, I can't work out why he's holding it up in the air like this, he's not going to catch anything that way!

 

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Jack Thomas

 

Same model, same pose, same net, but now he's pouch-less.

Holding up the net makes more sense in this version, but it won't take you too long to spot that this is actually the same photograph. 

 

The pouch/G-string has been painted on in the first picture for official publication. Fairly cleverly, it must be said, but it wouldn't fool the practised eye. The giveaway is the flat front and extra length needed to cover the offending organ, although you can see the dangling shadow has actually been altered. Of course, the objective is not to make the covering look real, but to highlight the existence of the nude version of the photo without getting the cops on your case. 

Touching-up (as it were!) by some studios was extremely crude and the painted on layer very obvious - perhaps as a protest. This practice gave rise to the idea that photos were posted out with a covering which could be scratched off on receipt. I think this must be a myth, such a device would not cut any ice with the authorities and it's hard to imagine the suppliers laboriously painting error-correction fluid onto every image they sent out (typically in sets of 20 photos)! 

To nude-starved viewers however the resulting clumsily-censored pictures must have been just as arousing as the unspectacular nude version.

More next time

The Look Of Surprise

(click on picture to expand)

The look that says "Well, I wasn't expecting that".

(Thinks) 'How rude!'

It had started as a normal day.
Alfie set out for a jog in the woods before going to work.
Then he met another jogger and one thing led to another
He didn't notice the other one creeping up behind.

Now it looked like he was going to be late for work.

Jay Black - 2

My second example of Jay Black's work I've chasen for it's underlying theme as much as Jay's contribution to it. Basically this is a story of  ......

'white lad fancies black pole dancer and gets black bar-man included in the deal'. 

(all pictures are Copyright of Next Door Ebony)

 Brandon makes his play 

 

In 'Three to get Lucky' (2014), Brandon Jones plays the caucasian admirer in suitably boyish (pseudo-innocent) fashion. Jay Black is joined by chunky Marc Williams in taking advantage of him. 

The plot line is obviously founded on inter-racial attraction and all the stereotyping and baggage that goes with it is at the disposal of anyone who views it, but if everyone's having a good time why not? 

 

For my money, the 2 on 1 scenario coupled with the contrasting skin tones adds a frission of the dangerous and the forbidden that could only be improved by surrounding the group with an audience all the same colour (either black or white). Interestingly the impact of this image would alter according to the colour chosen, each conjuring up a different back-story according to the viewers own built-in perceptions and prejudices.

Jay Black is not the prettiest man around but his sheer muscularity plays well in the nightspot lighting especially in the video itself. The contrasting skin colours enhance the visual experience, adding clarity. The purple backdrop also plays it's part in augmenting the photography. The mirror on the wall behind, on the other hand, is cleverly positioned but well.....a bit OTT.

 

The mature Marc Williams hasn't lost his cuteness yet and contributes a physical bulk that makes his intervention seem quite intimidating and it's certainly impressive to watch that butt going. 

Well done Brandon!

Check out the trailer clip below!  

Three To Get Lucky

See the whole film at Next Door Ebony

Jay Black - 1

I mentioned Jay Black in my series of articles on Brian Bodine and promised to provide some examples of his more interesting work. I'm starting with a video trailer from the film 'Knotty Boys'. Video is a format which I don't usually employ on this blog but I think the opening seconds are amazingly erotic and static pictures alone could not possibly do them justice.

Bam Bam

Black's co-star in this production is the unfortunately named 'Bam Bam', whose slightly grizzled appearance is considerably more interesting than his moniker might lead you to expect.

And his backside speaks for itself. Bam Bam plays a rent boy.

Jay Black

The action in the video trailer (above) is preceded by a sequence in which Jay Black is tied up by another man in readiness for Bam Bam's pre-booked arrival.

Jay seems to be getting ready for forceful going over.
 However, the action that follows is not what you might expect.

You can see the whole video at Next Door Ebony

Etienne/Stephen - Index to articles

Etienne is one of the all-time greats, an inspiration to me. 

He's rather neglected these days, so I feature him regularly here at mitchmen blog.

This article lists all the mitchmen articles about his work.

 

For simplicity, I nearly always label his images using the name Etienne, although many were published under the name Stephen. 

 

Etienne - Time For Your Injection, Sir.

Left, Right or Up The Middle? 

Click on the label at the foot of this post for medical-themed images by other artists. 

 

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Etienne: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, 

Just scratches the surface of his vast body of work, 

but there are lots of supplements:- 

 

Etienne - Night Patrol (complete)

 

Etienne - Sailor Beware (complete, 2 versions)

with linkage to Royale Studio's 'Shanghai'd Sailor'

 

Etienne - Golden Pasha (2025)

 

Etienne - Fishing is a Dangerous Sport (2025)

There's also a series about his other Fishing/Angling pictures 

 

 Car Wash (aka Slave Wash) in 2025 

 

Plus more sailor images by him in:

 In Praise of Sailors - Part 15  (also in Part 20)

He's honourably represented by dedicated entries in the 

'Riding The Wedge' series

and in 'Depictions of short men'

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There's also 2 examples of his jail pictures in  

'You're Going Down - Part 1' and 'You're Going Down - Part 5'

He's also included in the 'Strip Poker' series

A Truckstop image headlines the 2020 Most Popular Post series

~

His influence on Ulf is illustrated in Ulf Retrospective 2003 

and on Felix Falkon in A-Z of Fetish Artists - Falkon

For the Royale Studio connection, see Sailor Beware, above

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There's an illustrated note on his style in 

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Tagame

and in A-Z of Fetish Artists - Sean  

There are numerous other references to his work in other articles, which you can find using the blogger search function in the banner and also one in the sidebar top right. For simplicity, I nearly always label his images using the name Etienne, but his other, less unique name, Stephen may bring up other references. 

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Xue Song

Xue Song - Samsons Workout

My last 'X' is a bit of a cheat as it's not really fetish art and I suspect he belongs under 'S' anyway! However, my portfolio for this letter is not exactly overflowing and I love his hairy muscleman, Samson, who turns out to be a real sweetheart in 'Big is Better'

Xue Song - Big Is Better - Book 2 p6

Muscle packing out a tight vest is even better.

Samson is a gym-honed giant of a man who can't find anyone big enough to satisfy him.

Pete is a little guy who's into big muscle but being so small himself he doesn't get noticed by them but men his own size are put off him for a different reason.

 

Xue Song - Big Is Better - Book 2 p14

It turns out Samson adores cute little guys and when Pete reveals his package it's enormous. 

Pete's appendage is much too big for most guys.
But for Samson, like Cinderella's slipper - it's a perfect fit.

You will find more extracts of 'Big is Better' on-line if you search for the title,
 but I can't find anything more on the artist (info welcome)

Post Script:- A correspondant, Romano tells me Xue Song is the writer of 'Big is Better', 
the designer is Song Inkollo.

 For more articles in this series click on the A-Z label below or search for specific artists using the index page or search boxes (top right)

A-Z of Fetish Artists - XTop

XTop - Bath Spank

This spanking image from the 90's is all I have of this artist and it has a certain charm. The detailing of the background is pretty comprehensive and quite ambitious in places - like the mirror glass effect, the running water and grubby feet soles. I quite like the anxious look towards the bath into which, presumably, the spankee is going to have to immerse his sore backside when the spanking is over.

Sorry I have no links to give you.

 For more articles in this series click on the A-Z label below or search for specific artists using the index page or search boxes (top right)

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Xian

 

Xian's art illustrates tales of historical China, drawing on the absolute power that the aristocratic elite had over their servants and vassals.

Xian - Gardener 07

I'm not a great fan of historical scenarios or the costumes of those times (except for loincloths), however Xian's simple depictions have a directness that is quite arresting. The uncluttered style allows clarity of small details that would be lost in a more elaborate image.

Xian - Gardner 08

 In addition, the depictions of the captives in these images have a certain elemental masculine charm that is most engaging.

As you can see, Xian had a well developed publishing style but I can't find his work on the web. He used to contribute to GMBA occasionally (link in sidebar) but I haven't seen anything there recently. Any information from readers would be most welcome as always.

For more articles in this series click on the A-Z label below or search for specific artists using the index page or search boxes (top right)

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Xamda

It's slim pickings for my A-Z under the letter 'X' but I have found some interesting pictures to post.

 Xamda - Johnny and The Coach - After Hours

This is an interesting take on an old theme which has more fetish content than is apparent at first sight. I am unsure if Xamda is really the artist's name, I have been unable to trace him or this picture on the web. It's obviously computer assisted too making it a dubious qualifier under the criteria for my A-Z series, but I like it, it's colourful and topical even as we come up to Halloween. 

I'm not normally a fan of masks but that wierd, clumsily stitched variation is quite an evocative ingredient. Are we meant to think the coach is not really the coach at all....? Whatever the case, would that we could all boast the same level of leg flexibility he displays for the benefit of his bound and caned student.

(information on this artist is welcome)

For more articles in this series click on the A-Z label below or search for specific artists using the index page or search boxes (top right)

Greasetank - 2

Read this article from the start in Part 1 

 

Greasetank - Knuckle Alley #02
 

This image continues the theme of muscular thugs threatening men who are younger/softer/weaker than themselves. It forms part of a series in which the victim is beaten and forced into sex by his attackers, which poses the unsurprising possibility that butch, thoroughly-nasty, queer-bashers may have gay tendencies too. However, this is essentially an image about the eroticism of power and fear, a narrative that does not really depend on sexuality.

Greasetank - Rib Bustin' Time

I have featured many images in this blog showing a naked captive threatened by clothed attackers and such imagery is commonplace in the movies (e.g. Casino Royale). It is amazing how a few splashes of red turn such an image into something much more difficult to accept and, sadly, how much more realistic this scenario becomes.

There is obviously an erotic dimension to this piece, spelt out by the exposed flesh, the site of the wounds and, more subtly, the guns (the guns!). However, there is no sexual interaction going in a conventional sense. You might suppose that both parties find it arousing, certainly the captive does, he for once is both muscled and defiant, bravely confronting an inescapable, seemingly grisly fate.

These two attackers might easily have attracted his admiring attention on the street, their faces are not ugly but they are grotesquely contorted in expression of their sadistic pleasure. Cloaking them in Hell's Angels trappings suggests wildness and a capacity for unrestrained violence that greatly adds to our forebodings of a very bad ending for this victim.

Interestingly the central figure's face seems to show the characteristics of a black man although his skin is white. Greasetank's faces often blur racial characteristics, it's all part of his exploration of eroticism and this experimentation is a clue to understanding his art.
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 Greasetank - In The Woods

In this image there's a similar ambiguity about the dark-skinned captive whose face belongs to Greasetank's neutral, 'victim' persona more than any distinctive racial group. The noose is probably a more eloquent symbol of race hate. We know that this scene (like Greasetank's depictions of queer bashing and drive-by shootings) reflect real events that happen in the U.S.A. and are not simply the invention of some perverted imagination, but notice that there is no appeal to our sense of injustice, no clues to what has precipitated this scene, apart from the symbolic, frothing beer bottle and self satisfied grins. Those grins are part of some well-observed laddishness that might be quite attractive in a different context. In fact there's a strange sense that these muscular men are seducing their victim into his fate. That idea becomes more explicit in my next example.

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 There is much controversy generated by Greasetank's use of facist imagery in some of his pictures. Greasetank was born shortly after the Second World War and reached his formative years towards the end of the 60's when the true enormity of the Nazi war crimes against civilians and minorities was finally being grasped by the world, long after the initial horror of piled-up bodies had been digested. At this time the Swastika and 'SS' symbols were synonymous with almost unimaginable, ruthless and terrifying cruelty in a way that is hard for younger people to truly understand. We presently stand in a similar revelatory position to the atrocities of the Yugoslav wars and it is likely that in the years to come the black flag of ISIS will achieve a similar, shameful notoriety that we barely comprehend as yet. When Greasetank uses Nazi imagery in his pictures he is not promoting their ideas, but rather is symbolising in his thuggish characters the same mind-set of remorseless, unbounded cruelty driven by a twisted, ideological motivation.
 

Image self-censored by author - see comments below
(click on title)

Greasetank - Scab eyes

These men are not soldiers of the 3rd Reich but have merely donned (over-sized) elements of that garb. It signals evil, but with those enviable physiques and goofy, seductive smiles, Greasetank makes it hard for us to see them as callous brutes. But here they are re-enacting the worst excesses of that hated regime, gently ushering their (blind?) victim into a steel chamber with a friendly, teasing tweak of the nipple while holding a lethal canister in hand.


This is a more developed example of how Greasetank depicts victims, diminishing them and deliberately contrasting them with the health and physical attractiveness of their captors and tormentors. In other pictures he takes it further, showing us emaciated, shaven-headed figures who still haven't suffered enough to be spared more torture. Why depict such cruelty?


Because of the death camp associations, these images shock and repel the intellect even more than the blood splattered ones. However, in the series of pictures of which this is a part, the striking characterisations give you an eerie sense of witnessing something disturbingly real and of gaining fleeting insights into the psychology of evil. It's not sexy of course but the thrill of horror we get is frighteningly similar. Our confusion is increased by the appearance of the perpetrators who, removed from this narrative, would seem quite attractive.

It's interesting to test yourself here. How would you feel if the roles were reversed in this scenario and the sexy bullies were to become the victims, ushered to their fate by corpse-like beings? Would that seem as horrific? Sexy? Is this what Greasetank is inviting us to do?


These images are part of a progression in Greasetank's work. If you review the other examples in this article you will see the same theme of unequal protagonists and callous indifference - no, of positive pleasure - in threatening and inflicting suffering. According to Greasetank that progression chronicles his testing of his own limits in linking violence and sex, love and hate. You can either go along with him on this basis or bail out at some point according to your own values.

However, we all bring our own experience to these pictures and if you feel you having suffered injustice yourself, as many gay people do, then you may well feel a strange sense of recognition in the plight of these victims. To still be able then to see attractiveness in his perpetrators becomes all the more confusing and disturbing. To admire them or desire them seems the most extreme type of masochism. I suppose it's an example of the Stockholm syndrome at work. Alternatively, you may mentally join forces with these terrible men, taking the chance in fantasy to mete out vengeful violence as carelessly as they do. Greasetank presents us with these frightening thoughts which no doubt he shared himself.

Image self-censored by author - see comments below

 Greasetank - Beer Bust

This image is part of a similar scene to the one above but I shrink from reproducing it in full. There are enough clues here to what the missing part contains but you'll need to join a specialist group like GMBA (link at foot of sidebar) to find the unedited version. You'll probably have noticed how adept Greasetank is in using lighting to highlight the characteristics, good and bad, in his men in a sensual way and this is a striking example which serves to emphasise their unpleasantness too.

The masculine allure he manages to engineer for these dreadful characters does not just come from their obvious physical attributes, but from the facial expressions and body stances he gives them. These are highly authentic and convincing. He captures something very real about how men are, their personality if you like. It's a skill unmatched by most artists in this genre who tend to be preoccupied with the anatomical and the carnal. The result is some very seductive images despite their appalling subject matter.

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Greasetank's work was seen as controversial and shocking in it's day and still is, but that is not a particularly enlightening response.  Why do we find violence attractive or perhaps arousing? Even when it's directed against the most undeserving? Even against people just like ourselves? Even when the violence is repulsive, why do we still want to look on, not to witness the suffering but, in Greasetanks art, to watch the pleasure it's perpetrators get from it?
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There's an article about Greasetank at Queer Arts which attempts to explain the rationale of his work in the stock intellectual language of the art critic - shock tactics, forbidden thoughts, shining a light into dark areas of the psyche etc etc and making comparisons with the colour techniques of Old Masters. However, the essence of Greasetank's art really is contained in his own comment that he's simply exploring how brutality and sexuality feed off each other and how we and he respond to that. As I have suggested above, the roots of that for some people may run quite deep.

It might be more appropriate to compare his work with the Freddie Kruger school of movie making which uses (more subtly) the same ingredients - attractive, teenage lovers interrupted and destroyed by an axe-wielding murderer. At root, Greasetank's work is simply erotic horror art and it's lush sensuality is testimony to that. But he takes some real, major social/ethical issues of our world as his starting point and shines a cold, disturbing light on them which speaks for itself. Giving them an unreal sexual dimension is not really contributing to any political debate, any more than Freddy Kruger's rampages tell us anything about mental health, if anything both subvert that discussion.

Greasetank - Calling the Shots

 For that reason I conclude with this picture from the 'Vietnam' group. It shows his skill with figure drawing focused more overtly on the erotic content. The callous violence still subtly hovers in the background but arguably adds little to this particular piece which conceptually is a close relative of 'River Shooting' in Part 1 of this article.

Greasetank said his art would become uninteresting when it was neither attractive nor repulsive. Most of his art is striving to be both, portraying sexuality, menace and threat, and giving fears a tangible expression. Most gay men will relate to those ideas in their own inner lives. He does go further than most to make the threat seem extreme and his most heavy-handed examples infuse the rest of his work too with a flavour of looming evil and danger that frightening but nevertheless fascinating.
The results are disturbing but illuminating for the open-minded.

Greasetank died in 2009 and there is no website for him but you will find a plentiful supply of his art via search-engines including his most bloody envisioning and links to the blogs and sites of his adoring fans.

Read this article from Part 1
text updated Jan 2017, Mar 2018, Nov 2019