AI Art by Pelonjefe - 3

 Previously:- Beach Bullies by Pelonjefe

In this article, a look at other sports and interests

with power play bias. 

 

Locker Room Hierarchy by pelonjefe

 

  This somewhat comical, little vignette, expresses the idea of power and submission more directly than other works by this artist, rather bluntly in fact. It's all the more powerful in that the stature of the participants seems so evenly matched, on the face of it. This isn't a man dominating a boy. On top of that, the artist has persuaded AI to sail within a gnat's whisker of being explicit. 

 

View the video: Locker Room Hierarchy 

  Subscribers to the 'Follow Me' feed 

need to visit the mitchmen blog to see the videos - sorry!

 

 

 

Pelojefe - Jock Hog Tied

Probably just a team jape after an evening training session, 

but training alone late at night leaves a guy open to all sorts 

....  and there's rain in the air 

....no need to shower tonight then!

 

Be sure to look at the Jockstrap Reveal variant, 

it's bizarre, silly but sexy.

 

Pelonjefe - By My Balls

 

This handsome young man is the best of Pelonjefe's bound jocks for me. Quite apart from his looks, the bondage is so neat and economical. And that backside...what can I say? 

 

This image is the basis for a number of light-hearted videoettes, with tweaks to the visuals and dialogue, try 'Costly Arrogance' 

 

Pelonjefe - I Felt Something Move Down There (1)

This item is something completely different. A young man is tying up the locker room hunk, a role reversal apparently, but we can't really tell how the hunk feels about it. 

 

The video (below) actually makes a decent fist of showing the ropes being tied, they usually magically appear in AI sketches. To be fair, conventional video makers are not that good at it either, some show every fumbling knot and laborious feeding through of very long ropes, others just leave it out altogether. 

 

Pelonjefe - I Felt Something Move Down There (2)

Midway through the action, the hunk, looks furtively aside and then, in a whisper, reveals his secret feelings. His partner proceeds to do a bit of feeling of his own - but blink and you'll miss it! 

 

View the video: 'I Felt Something Move Down There'... 

 

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need to visit the mitchmen blog to see the videos - sorry!

 

 

 

Pelonjefe - Brad becomes Bound Muscle

 The saga of Daniel and Brad revolves around a TV gambling game where the highly successful Brad loses everything he has to his incompetent landscaper, Daniel. The only way he can avoid being thrown out of his own house, onto the streets, is by reversing roles. 

 

Daniel humiliates him. As well as maintaining the grounds, he makes Brad his plaything in his 'free' time. Here he's being used for Daniel's shibari practice. His hairy muscular body is an ideal subject for it. His humiliation is documented at some length.

 

Pelonjefe - Stay

Hairy muscle in bondage is the subject of another video, 'Stay'. There's a jungle setting with a roaring fire right behind the captive suggesting that unpleasantness lays in store for him. The video follows his realisation of capture, anger and submission, but it's the movement of his struggling body that supplies the sexy entertainment. A sort of theme and variations.

Watch 'Stay' and a selection of stills

 

Pelonjefe - Ropes of Desire

Pelonjefe's refreshing attention to big, hairy men extends to more mature models too with this unusual, retro-styled, bondage duo. They don't look as if they are delighted about being tied tightly together, stark naked and crotch to crotch. Complete strangers perhaps, selected at random and manipulated into this predicament. 

 

The passage of time might change things, as they get used to feeling the unwavering, warm, furry pressure of their partner against them. It would be interesting to observe what happens when they wake after a night spent tied together like this. Older men still get early morning woods!

 

Pelonjefe - Come Closer, I'm Yours

 

This artist does not neglect younger man in his exploration of bondage imagery. This complex upper body harness doesn't seem to have subdued this one's self-assurance and bravado. He's dripping with water and other variations of this image reveal a shower head just above, so you could read this as residual defiance after a sudden deluge has dampened his arrogance.

 

 

Pelonjefe - The King's Taxes Are Due

The power of beautiful young men to ruthlessly command their elders is caricatured in this fantasy, with a grotesquely emaciated slave kneeling before a sovereign who flaunts his body shamelessly before him. His ragged loincloth suggests he is not total obsessed with wealth and the finer things that his position in life grants him. Rather that he will accept his taxes in various currencies. 

 

Naked men with headgear can often look ridiculous (as in my Ministry of Silly Hats series) but this crown doesn't look silly at all (unless I'm getting old!). It bestows immunity and power on the wearer in this scenario, which enables him to do as he pleases. For as long as he is young anyway. Present day Royalty presents a wonderful demonstration of the ultimate folly of such hubris. 

 

 

Pelonjefe - New Boy - Obedience Training

 There is certain natural order in life that a young man can benefit from when he's old enough, and it readily asserts itself in gay erotic imagery. Having a collar put on symbolises this man's submission to a master who will train him in his particular discipline.

 

 There's a recurring motto in this artist's work, "Obedience is new to you, but I will help you get it right" and it's not only directed at young men as Brad discovers when he falls under the control of Daniel (above).

 

 

Pelonjefe - New Boy Lessons

 As well as learning from his master's skills and experience, in exchange for compliance and submission, the acolyte benefits from a certain closeness and intimacy and the joy of being valued, by a man who he can admire.

 

 

  

Pelonjefe - Truth or Dare

The boys in this piece turn the tables on an older man in this joyous piece. He 'playfully' soaks their tighty-whiteys with his hose, (presumably he's the janitor hosing down the pool area). Then he teases them with a 'truth or dare' challenge to do press-ups. I have to say, their press-ups are not impressive, but the Janitor seems quite satisfied. I imagine he is more interested in looking at their wet backsides. However, these dumb jocks are cuter than he thinks. Watch 'Truth or Dare'

 

 

Pelonjefe - Sun's Out, Buns Out

This artist also has a romantic side of course, with this relaxed, idyllic scene. Luckily for this hunk, this artist doesn't do spankings - or underwater monsters!

 

Enjoy Pelonjefe at Deviant Art 

 

  Earlier articles:- Beach Bullies by Pelonjefe  

More AI Beach Imagery by Pelonjefe

 Previously:- Beach Bondage by Pelonjefe

  This artist further explores the theme of 'Beach Buddy Bondage' in depth, in a number of videoettes at DeviantArt. I've compiled the sequence below from the 'Beach Boss' series of about a dozen mini videos.

 

Pelonjefe - Beach Boss 1 - Now I understand

 

 A muscle hunk shows a beach loudmouth that he'll not stand for his cat calls and mockery. The contrast in their physiques makes for an unequal domination scenario, and it's subtly underlined by the muscle guy's professional tan and his victim's rosy sunburn. 

 

Now I Understand is actually the last video in the series, as you'll realise if you watch it, but I thought this image made a great starting point too.

 

Pelonjefe - Beach Boss 2 - You Belong On Your Knees

This hunk must be used to being ridiculed, he's bought his bondage kit with him to the beach. In a trice, the offender is securely bound - and he looks bemused and quite upset about it! For me, the tied guy is the more attractive man, but I don't mind in the least, seeing him dominated like this!

View You belong on your knees  

Pelonjefe - Beach Boss 3

 

Making the weaker guy eat sand is a sadistic rerun of the famous Charles Atlas, beach bully scenario. This is the definitive 'Beach Boss' image. See 'I own you' (and others).

 

Pelonjefe - Beach Boss 4 -Let's Get You Wet (1)

 

 The sound the waves surging up the beach is an irresistible lure for the hunk who is (obviously) an expert swimmer, as well as all his other enviable qualities. It isn't obvious that his captive is equally at home in the water, but a dunking is in prospect whether he likes it or not.

 

Pelonjefe - Beach Boss 5 -C'mon Tough Guy

 

Bondage and water are a dangerous combination, and you can never be sure how far a bully is prepared to go once he gets the upper hand. So, even though he's tied up, the victim resists manfully. It needs all the muscle guy's strength to drag him towards the surf. 

 

AI has created a splendid, dynamic image here with the uneven struggle brilliantly reflected in the characters faces.

C'mon Tough Guy is one of the best of this series

Pelonjefe - Beach Boss 6 -Let's Get You Wet (2)

 

The sea beckons. 

 

The outcome of Let's Get You Wet is a little disappointing, but there are plenty of other beach bondage scenarios on this artist's website that point to possible outcomes. 'Fish Food' is as melodramatic as its title but crystallises the worst fears. 

 

Pelonjefe - Jocks v Tides

Jocks v Tides is more genuinely dramatic 

 

Pelonjefe - Consequences On The Beach

 

I'm rather fond of 'Consequences' which hints more at prized finds for beachcombers, rather than dramatic, survival struggles. 

Beautifully neat and sexy.

 

Pelonjefe - Maximum Respect

The captive's nudity here, and the highly professional application of shibari rope-work, suggests a more sinister long term objective. A beach collector looking for a 'keeper' perhaps. But slavers too are everywhere, always on the lookout for unwary hunks!

 

~ 

More Pelonjefe domination scenarios and impressive video creations in the next post (non-beach!) 

 

Pelonjefe posts at Deviant Art

be sure to take advantage of the perks for 'watchers'. 

Beach Bondage by Pelonjefe

Another videoette illustrating the impressive potential of AI

 Subscribers to the 'Follow Me' feed need to visit the mitchmen blog to see the video - sorry!

 

 'Hold Your Breath'

 

This piece seems like an innocent-seeming jape between buddies, but an underlying sense of control, threat and submission is brought out in the dialogue. Like the 'Sailor Punishments' of Miloinvinculis, it exploits the visual impact and uncontrollable threat posed by the power of the sea. 

 

 

AI can be relied upon to produce hunky actors - with attractive, contrasting characterisations in this case. In the detail, there's a delightful pair of backless Speedos to feast upon (and speculate about a follow-up).

 

The brevity of the piece and humorous misalignment of the spoken words shows there's a way to go before AI can be properly controlled by its creator. 

 

Pelonjefe posts at deviantart 

 ~  

For other AI videos and animations at mitchmen, 

and other related subjects, 

click on the labels at the foot of the post  

Etienne's - The Plumber

 This article features an Etienne image that seems to be the predecessor of his 'Bath Nite' storyette. 

Etienne - The Plumber

 

This is the most complete copy I have of the picture, others have outer detail cropped off. However, it is marred by a scratch/crease line across the background character, which the others aren't. 

 

This picture doesn't have a title, even in the Kris Catalogue, where it is simply labelled as 'E56'. It's clearly not another 'Bath Nite', however. This plumber seems to have been called in to deal with some major pipework problems, but he too has managed to drench himself. He's taken off his clothes and hung them on the line above while he sorts out the problem, entirely naked.

 

Enter the owner, or maybe it's his foreman. He stands, looking very dissatisfied, with hands on hips, which seems to confirm the plumber has made a hash of things. The plumber seems to think the new arrival is more interested in his nakedness than his work, and doesn't seem the least bit concerned about it!

 

Like the final image in Bath Nite, this picture has something of a split personality. The man in the background seems to have been added in as an afterthought and not very well integrated. He's not actually looking at the plumber, but at us, like a posing model. In addition, there's a sort of halo around his entire body, making it seem as if he doesn't 'belong'. His feet seem to be hovering above the ground, whereas the plumber is grounded very convincingly. However, this image was taken from a contemporary magazine 'Fizeek Art Quarterly', so it must be authentic (?) 

 

The explanation may lie in another version, which I discovered not long ago at the 'Tim in Vermont' website (now defunct, sadly).

 

 

Etienne - The Plumber (coloured)

Here there are two on-lookers, and they obscure the staircase detail in a way that makes you look back and question that element of the black and white version too. Is this the original image then?

 

 I must admit, I have my doubts about the integrity of this image, too. Etienne often seems to have painted many of his original images, so the colour element is not surprising. He also depicted explicit details, with sanitised copies for general publication, so that's fine too. This picture contains a considerable amount of detail on the right side, which is not present in the black and white version. All of which stakes a claim to it being more authentic. 

 

In the black and white image, the spectator seemed the least convincing detail. The two seen here fit in more convincingly in purely technical terms, but don't create much of a narrative, which you would expect from an Etienne picture. Perhaps they are the cowboys who caused the problem and had to call in the plumber. But they are not even looking at him. Apart from this, the styling of their faces is more life-like than the plumber's and his 'appendage' for that matter has all the hallmarks of an 'add-on'. 

 

 I think the underlying colour imagery here probably is original by Etienne, but I suspect the spectators are a later alteration, possibly by Etienne himself, who was known to revise older imagery (see Sailors Beware!) but was not always scrupulously correct about consistency. 

 

The arrangement of the two spectators here actually makes a striking parallel to the poses of the men in the (supposedly later) Bath Nite 6. It's tempting to see this as a cross-over revision.

 

All this begs the question, what did the original version of this picture actually look like? The best answer is the illustration in the Kris Catalogue and I have to say it looks identical to the black and white image above, although it's not possible to be sure about facial expressions and eye-lines. It also has the extra width of the coloured image. 

 

~ 

 

Other Etienne posts at mitchmen

Etienne - Bath Nite (Updated Sat 22 Feb))

UPDATE Sat 22nd Feb

I have updated this article with two 'missing' pictures found at the 'Exclusively Etienne' Google Group. Thanks to them for the valuable resource. 

 

Plumbers come and go in Gay iconography. We tend to assign a rough masculinity to all manual workmen by default, but plumbers routinely gain admittance to our most private areas, prompting all sorts of erotic possibilities. The nature of their job and its association with spanners, pipes and fluid flow makes for plenty of innuendo and jolly puns. 

 

These days, gay interest seems to lie primarily in the voyeuristic spectacle they offer, whilst fiddling under the sink...

 

Plumber by jk

 Etienne's mid-60s storyette, 'Bath Nite', ca 1965, takes the 'home invasion' ingredient much further. The Kris catalogue shows 6 pictures in the set, all but 1 of them have come down to us in reasonably clear quality.

 

 

Etienne - Bath Nite 1 - Trouble In The Shower

 In this picture, a muscle hunk discovers he has got a blockage in his shower pipes. The switch is set to 'On', but all he gets is a drip.

 

 Most of us hate a wet shower curtain clinging to our bodies, but here it handily covers his naughty bits. 

 

The hunk's, slightly odd but suggestive, open legged pose seen here occurs in other Etienne images too. I wonder if it's connected with his experience as a ballet dancer.

 

 

Etienne - Bath Nite 2 - Professional Assistance

The plumber arrives, responding to the hunk's call for help. The workman cuts quite a roguish figure in his rakish cap and coat casually slung over his shoulder, a confident, showy devil*. His skimpy, tight-fitting polo shirt, reveals a tattoo on his bare arm and bulging jeans confirm his butch credentials. No wonder the hunk has dropped his towel! He looks round at him with an appraising eye, limply pointing out the dripping (and suggestive) shower head! 

  

*I suppose you might read more boastfulness into his trading name 'A1 (or top class) Plumber', but it was a standard way of getting a business to the top of telephone listings in pre-Internet days. 

 

The dense, ill-defined shading of this copy may be because the original was painted (i.e. in colour) and not drawn. 

 

Etienne - Bath Nite 3 - Slight Miscalculation

A minor tweak of a spanner (it seems) is all it takes to unexpectedly unleash a jet of water, drenching the plumber and knocking him to the floor. For some reason, his belt has come unbuckled and partly detached from his pants, which also look undone at the fly. Has there just been some hanky-panky distracting him from his task? The hunk's smile might suggest so. 

 

The plumber looks more jock-like and handsome here - vulnerable too, like a regular guy. It's the hunk's turn to look roguish as he closes the door. Has he contrived this unfortunate accident - or is he just an opportunist?

 

Notice that the size difference between the two men is disguising a simulated contact between the plumbers boot and the hunk's thigh, exactly at crotch level. There's a reciprocal arrangement involving the plumber's (wide open) crotch and hunk's knee being at the same height. 

  

Etienne - Bath Nite 4 - Beyond Repair

I've had to resort to enlarging the catalogue thumbnail here. It looks as if the clumsy plumber has wrought more serious damage to the shower than it appears in the previous picture. There seems to be a hole in the wall with dripping pipework where the shower head was before. There's also a pile of rubble? at the hunk's feet as he stoops to pick up the shower head and its (hitherto unseen) feed pipe. 

The plumber in the foreground wrings out his jeans, looking very wet or very embarrassed - or both. His muscular arms and the perky cap (back in place on his head), add a nice tweak to his manly embarrassment. However, the shape seen in his wet underwear might suggest that it's the not just his mistake, but the sight of the hunk's bare backside, that is causing his consternation. He's taken off his boots to facilitate the removal of his jeans, so he obviously not that flustered! That enables Etienne to include a typical detail of oversized feet in slack socks.

 

Etienne - Bath Nite 5 - Off With The Wet

At this point, the plumber has lost his underpants altogether, they are hanging on the line behind, together with his jeans. His last sock is in the process of being peeled off his foot, by the hunk, who is holding it up in a very servant-like way.

 

 The still-dripping plumber looks as if he's going to take off his polo shirt and is clearly not the least embarrassed about his exposed crotch, because his legs are wide open. Nice legs they are too (Etienne's ballet heritage again). Plus generously sized feet.

The plumber's roguish, toughness seems to have reasserted itself here, his cap is symbolically back on his head. He appears to be resting his right foot on one of his own boots, pushing it into the hunk's crotch. The response of the hunk is obscured by a wet sock, but there's something else going on just behind the boot and sock, which I can't make out... Irrespective of this, there's plainly an erotic interaction going on.

 

Etienne - Bath Nite 6 - The Solution

In the end, the hunk gets his shower, thanks to the magnanimous, muscular plumber sprinkling him from a (very camp!) watering can. The tattoo on his arm reveals him to be called Bud, which mellows his hypermasculine aura in an attractive way. 

The hunk lounges contentedly, his legs unashamedly open (ballet style again) and in a position to receive a playful splashing onto his groin - and much else, I dare say!  He is clearly conscious that Bud's dick is lurking just behind his head and within touching distance of his clasped hands. There's a dark shadow to the left of Bud's 'treasure trail' which may be screening a glimpse of something naughty. 

This sexy, bath tub pose is probably inspired by (if not copied from) a 60s beefcake picture in the AMG set of Wally Schillicut bathing*. Etienne has drawn the image well, but the departure from the free flowing, 'drawn from the imagination' style of the rest of the picture, and indeed the rest of the set, jars a little.  

*More of Wally Schillicut and other vintage hunks in bathtubs 

(link pending)

~ 

The 'Bath Nite' entry in Kris Catalogue No 2

 

 ~

This plumbing story has a predecessor image, also by Etienne, from about 3 years earlier, in 1962. It's clearly the prototype for 'Bath Nite' but tells a slightly different story. 

View Etienne's 'The Plumber'

Other Etienne posts at mitchmen
 

The Third Sailor's Punishment

 The third of this series by miloivinculis shows the Pirate's inventiveness in keeping his crew in line, but it still falls well short of the practice of keel-hauling used by the Royal Navy.

 

Sailor Punishment No 4 is at 'X'

Plus a fuller review of the Art of miloinvinculis 
with website link

Earlier posts:- 

Sailor Punishment No 1

Sailor Punishment No 2 

Subscribers to the 'Follow Me' feed 
need to visit the blog to see these videos  

Another Sailor Punished

Pirate Figurehead

 Another great dunking punishment video from the age of sail.

More art by miloinviculis in 'Third Sailor punished'

 See also the first sailor punished on this ship  

~ 

 Subscribers to the 'follow me' feed need to visit the blog to see the video above:- Another Sailor Punished 

Punishment of a Sailor

The creator of this video snippet calls it a 'Pirate Dunking'. That might suggest it's the fate of a captive, particularly as he's dressed in rags (just about!). But it's a disciplinary scenario that might be applied to any sort of vessel from the age of sail. Both civilian and military ships could be blessed with captains who applied severe punishments to excess. But, at least this unfortunate has escaped the dreaded 'keel-hauling', keeping his superb physique in tip-top condition for the next time.

An impressive example of what can be done with AI in hands not constrained by commercial considerations. He's conjured a great homo-erotic scene without causing offence to anybody! 

It would be nice to see a modern version with the dunkee dressed in white underpants, say, or other revealing, wet clothes. 

More by this artist: Another Sailor Punished.  

 

 Subscribers to the 'follow me' feed need to visit the blog to see the video:- Punishment of a Sailor

Art by Steve Masters 2

Steve Masters - Al Fresco

 If the convict image that topped Part 1 of this article is one of Master's most memorable, this must be the most intriguing. This is the best quality copy I have of it, but it's not the most complete, a version I have assembled from two other sources (below) shows more of the composition at both the top and the bottom.

Steve Masters - Al Fresco (extended)

Looking at this expanded version, you get the feeling that there's probably even more to see in the artist's original. The fragment at the top seems chopped, but it does seem to be the uppermost floor, because it doesn't have a staircase leading further upwards.

But what does it mean? At one level, you might see it as simply a vehicle for figure studies. Most of Master's compositions have that 'posed' quality, with limited interactions between the characters. In this picture, the men interact with the architecture more than they do with each other. However, one window does show a couple who might have just had sex, is this an imagined house of boys, then? 

At the other end of the scale, you might see this as an allegory of the gay lifestyle. Bedsit boys, living mostly solitary lives and constantly looking out at more showy men who have the courage to strut the fire-escape in public view. Close by, but out of reach, and ultimately just as trapped as they are, in the gay ghetto. That subtext would have had some resonance in the early sixties, when many gay men really were trapped and the gulf between the closet and the secret, 'out' world was far more substantial than it is today.

Steve Masters - Cubicles (my title)

 If you are inclined to dismiss this interpretation, this picture might make you think again. Nine men in panels depicting toilet cubicles, and one of them is having sex if you look closely. None seem to be actually using the toilet. 

This image depicts the wide variety of men that haunted restrooms. The original was clearly coloured, as many of Master's images were. and that would have enhanced the sense of variety - in dress at least. 

It's intriguing though that the individual portraits are cropped so severely. In places, it creates the illusion that the men are having sex with each other, with an impressive daisy chain in the middle. The overlaps in the outer panels create the same effect in a different way.

Squeezing the images together does create a sense of fleeting visits and of the individuals merely registering as an impression. But there's a negative flip to that, which echoes the suggestion of isolation and loneliness in 'Al Fresco'. 

The artist Rex also played with the cubicle device later on. His images contain gay men actually interacting and having sex in their own partitions (which are closer to hotel rooms or bath house cubicles than public toilets). As individuals, they have much stronger identities. Both men are reflecting their times, of course.

 

Steve Masters - Rock Climbers (1962)

A young man is helped across a crevasse to join his companion, who strikes a godlike pose. It's a scene reminiscent of renaissance art. There's a calmness about this picture and a complete absence of innuendo, although their nudity (contrasted with residual clothing and kit) does suggest a sexual context. The shedding of all clothes means there's none of the showy display that characterises so much of Masters' work.   

 

The elements of creativity and design which dominate the previous images can be seen differently here, with a relatively simple composition embellished with what appear to be fragments of commercial marble images, such as might be seen on kitchen worktops or tiles. It creates an effect of a jagged, alien reality as the background and obstacle to the climbing. 

 

 

Steve Masters - Bacchanal

 

This image has a similar, striking design featuring realistic marbling, but it couldn't be more different to Rock Climbers. The design effects almost overwhelm the whole composition. 

 

When your eyes focus, it's dominated by an image of Bacchus with a dragon headed snake between his legs, discharging his lust from its mouth into a pool. The snake seems to be actually entering his body at the rear. An incongruous cupid rides behind him, seemingly trying to restrain the creature (or simply distract unwelcome prudes). 

 

Oblivious of them, a group of naked sailors loll drunkenly on the edge of the pool, full of a milky white substance, which probably isn't asses milk. (Shades of Stephen's 'Troopship'!). The sailors are subtly connected by hands and overlaps into a chain of shared, sexual sensuality. 

 

At the very back, another humanoid creature sits cross-legged, presiding over the activities. He's shaded in a different tone to the sailors, I suspect it's a different colour in the original image, to distinguish him from them. A disembodied head like a gargoyle hovers in front of his groin, obscuring it from view. It looks like a device added later to sanitise the image. 

 

I suppose this image simply expresses the view that gay debauchery is (reassuringly) sanctioned by the Gods, nay it's directed by them. Despite the difficult presentation of the subject, its sheer complexity is impressive. The figure of Bacchus and his snake is a homoerotic gem.

 

Steve Masters - Watching Men (my title)

This earlier piece shows the same interest in placing men into places with striking design features. The less exotic chequerboard patterns show a link to contemporary commercial art, although I can't quote chapter and verse on that. There's no attempt to construct a story line, but there's a very clever message... 

 

In the background, we see a couple of attractive, scantily-clad men engaged in healthy exercise. Another two are getting undressed for a bath (together? really?).  In the foreground, a fifth man in a jockstrap sits on a platform watching them, almost furtively. He seems a lonely, excluded figure, rather like the souls looking out of windows in 'Al Fresco' - and perhaps like the figure crossing the divide in 'Rock Climbers'.

 

 

Steve Masters - Boot Clean

Words are the striking feature of this image, with enough gay innuendos and puns to satisfy the most playful mind (soles rimmed?) These signs refer us back to the key character, who we see presenting himself - alone - and in a cubicle(!)  Not exactly trapped, though - or is he? 

 

The multiple offers of service around him are supplemented and clarified by the fact he's holding his cock in his hand. Masters has cloaked him in conventionality by draping a fashionable cardigan over his shoulders, an appealing connection for some.

 

The hint of a fairground connection can be seen in other work by this artist, in Part 3. 

 

Steve Masters -Handy Man

Words serve a very different purpose here. At first, we only see a fit, muscular man with a revealing shirt and a suitcase. We can visualise him arriving in a new place, looking for work and somewhere to live. So far, so very homoerotic. 

 

Then through the blizzard of words we see he has no right arm and no, it's not just one of Masters' design flourishes. He's a veteran, returning as a casualty of war. Immediately, those sexy innuendos and offers around him take on a bitter irony. His face acknowledges the reality of being able-bodied and yet not. He, too, is alone and isolated.

 

This is 1961, the year that American involvement and casualties in Vietnam began to escalate. With the Korean War a recent memory, Masters seems to anticipate and protest the inevitable consequences and the toll it would take on so many young men.

 

~ 

 

Part 3 of this series looks at Masters' less intense work.

 

Read Part 1 of this article