Erotic Intent, August 18, 2017
Dildos, Strap-Ons, and Pegging: An Anal History
When author, pleasure activist, and Good Vibes staff sexologist, Dr. Carol Queen released her 1998 hetero how-to video series, “Bend Over Boyfriend: An Adventurous Couple’s Guide to Male Anal Pleasure,” she had no idea she was tapping into the buttgeist of so many boudoirs. “Who knew there was so much interest?” she said at the time. But indeed there was (and is). The video was a best-seller and the practice of women penetrating their men with a strap-on came swaggering out of the closet.
In fact, it became so much talked about that, in 2001, the term “pegging” was officially coined by “Savage Love” sex advice columnist Dan Savage–based on readers suggestions and a vote–and quickly became the commonly accepted slang for, as he unambiguously defines it, “a woman fucking a man in the ass with a strap-on dildo.”
In celebration of the success of the new models of our revolutionary and gorgeous one-piece, “hergonomic,” molded (no o-ring!) Zoro strap-on by Perfect Fit Brand (above) we invite you to take a gander at dildos, strap-ons and the depiction of pegging in the media throughout the ages.
This article was inspired by and contains (B.C.) highlights edited from a post on U.K. sex toy retailer blog ThatPosition.com, plus a few more contemporary (A.D.) bits of our own.
Source: http://www.worldrecordacademy.com
• The oldest known relic that’s believed to be a strap-on is from the Upper Paleolithic Period, 30,000 B.C. Above, a dildo from the same period.
• In ancient Egypt mythology (2500-2200 B.C.) it was believed that the ebb of flow of the Nile River was caused by Atum’s (the god of creation) ejaculation, sparking the ritualistic ejaculation of the pharaohs into the Nile River. As the strength of the rain was thought to correlate to the strength of the pharaoh’s ejaculation, it’s believed that to ensure an abundance of rain, the pharaoh’s wife would massage his prostate with a phallus while he sat on her lap and masturbated.
Source: http://www.bcliving.ca
• In the Suburban Baths at Pompeii Italy, a mural has been unearthed which depicts a threesome with female-to-male-to-female anal penetration.
Source: http://www.wikimedia.org
• Another ancient painting from Athens portrays a female figure dancing, while wearing a strap-on dildo and a tail, before a seated Dionysus.
• 3rd century B.C. Greek poet Herodas describes women going to a cobbler for dildos that were carefully stitched from scarlet leather and are described as being very soft, ‘like the real thing’. He also mentions straps but doesn’t elaborate on their purpose.
• In the Secret History of Prociopius, Theodra (below), wife of the Emperor Justinian, is depicted as penetrating the “hinder parts” of her male lovers, which takes on a slightly less playful cast when you read that the couple was described as “corrupt, immoral, and just plain evil.”
Source: wikimedia.org
• Marcus Valerius Martialis, a Latin poet, portrays Flinene Pedica as a Tribate (lesbian who has sex like a man) who sodomizes the boys more heated than a husband and “fucks eleven girls or boys in a single day.”
• A tale vivid tale of strap-on sex was found on papyrus recycled to wrap a mummy was found in Egypt: “She said ‘Come hither, I will plug up your tight asshole.’ And she beat my egg sack with a sprig of lilac as if I were a satyr. I fell backwards, breathing heavy…”
• The Satyricon of Petronius, describes Emperor Nero Oenothera being fucked by a woman wielding a leather dildo which, “when she had smeared it with oil, ground pepper, and pounded nettle seed, she commenced to force, little by little, up my anus.”
Source, http://www.beforeitsnews.com, pinimg.com
• Strap-ons were common in ancient Greek Theater where male-only casts would wear gigantic phallus attached to their waists in satyr-plays.
Source: http://www.erotic-red.com, China Hub
• Archeologists have also found an Asian double dildo carved from jade dates that dates back to the 10th–13th century as well as a Japanese wooden strap-on dildo.
Source: http://www.commons.wikimedia.org
• In the Middle Ages, as prescribed in a church “penitential” (a book that prescribes punishments for sins), women guilty of masturbation with a dildo were to “do penance for five years on legitimate holy days.” In the 1690’s dildos could be bought openly in shops in London.
Source http://www.theapricity.com
• The Marquis de Sade describes a pegging act in his 1795 book “Philosophy in the Bedroom.”
Source: http://www.wikipedia.org
• Early 1800’s Japanese shunga illustrations were gleefully pornographic, portraying a dizzying variety of positions, including one involving two women and a strap-on.
Source: http://www.theseductionofvenus.blogspot.com
• The dildo used in the pegging scene in William S. Burroughs 1959 novel “Naked Lunch” is called a “Steely Dan III,” and is the source from which the musical group Steely Dan took its name. Funnily enough, the band had a hit with the single “Peg,” back in 1977.
Source: YouTube
• In the 1970 film version of Gore Vidal’s satirical 1968 novel “Myra Breckinridge” (20th Century Fox) the title character–a transexual played by Raquel Welch–enthusiastically pegs aspiring actor Rusty Godowski with an apparently rather large strap-on. At about 7:30 in the clip.
Source: YouTube
• Pegging popped-up in the “Crush Girl Love Panic” (2006) episode of U.S. television show “Weeds”.
Source: YouTube
• In the 2007 pilot episode of Dirt, Lucy Spiller (Courteney Cox) blackmails basketball superstar and “family man” Prince Tyreese after entrapping him with photos of him being pegged by a prostitute.
• The September 2007 film “YPF” (“Young People Fucking”) features a storyline in which a couple, who feel their lovemaking has become boring over time, attempt to spice up their sex by trying pegging.
• The theatre company Pack of Others’ show, “Peg-Ass-Us,” devoted to “spreading the word about the pleasures of prostate stimulation and strap-on sex,” toured nationally and won Best Comedy at the 2008 San Francisco Fringe Festival.
• The 2008 film, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” features pegging between characters played by Traci Lords and Ricky Mabe.
Source: YouTube• In 2014, a Greek man had to get his girlfriend’s strap-on surgically removed from his rectum after it got stuck during pegging. The story not only made international headlines, but a video surfaced showing the doctors stopping and laughing mid-way through removing it in order to take photos on their phones.
• The episode “Knockoffs” of TV series “Broad City,” in which Abbi Abrams pegs neighbor crush Jeremy Santos, ignited much discussion in the media, such as this commentary on Jezebel.
• A Refinery29 article titled, “We Need To Talk About The Pegging Scene In Deadpool,” says, “…seeing a super-macho, hypermasculine leading man like Ryan Reynolds end up on the receiving end of a strap-on dildo will hopefully demonstrate to audiences that it’s fun and totally okay to experiment with power dynamics during sex, as long as both partners are willing and consenting adults.”
• A 2016 Mic.com post mused, “Is Ariana Grande’s “Dangerous Woman” Actually an Ode to Pegging? A Three-Part Analysis.”
Source: YouTube
• “I wish more guys would get into pegging…I think if men knew more about what it was like to get fucked, they would be better at fucking,” sighed Vogue writer Karley Sciortino, in her recent column, “Breathless: Why (Some) Women Love Strap-Ons,” earlier this year.
Raquel Welch, as Myra, pegging in the film version of Gore Vidal’s “Myra Breckinridge”
Source: YouTube.com
Erotic Intent, January 16, 2019
Erotic Intent Q+A: Sex Educator Elle Chase
Meet the body-acceptance and pleasure advocate and author of “Curvy Girl Sex”
In what we hope will be a regular habit, we present the very first Erotic Intent Q&A. Appropriately, it’s with certified sex educator, author, and body-acceptance and pleasure advocate, Elle Chase.Elle is considered a powerful thought leader and a key influencer in the sexual health community, most notably for her respected voice in the body acceptance/body neutrality movement.
She is also the Founder and serves as the Director of Education at the Los Angeles Academy of Sex Education, has been featured in major media from NBC’s The Today Show, ABC’s Nightline, The New York Times, to Teen Vogue, The Daily Beast, Cosmopolitan and loads of others, and is a sought-after expert for some of the world’s highest-rated podcasts and radio shows including; Sex with Emily, Savage Lovecast with Dan Savage, Sex Out Loud, and Loveline. Read her full bio here.
Clearly, this woman knows what she’s talking about. She’s also fun. We discovered Elle thanks to her beautifully explicit, illustrated groundbreaking, how-to book, “Curvy Girl Sex: 101 Body-Positive Positions to Empower Your Sex Life” (Quarto Publishing/Fair Winds Press).
A first of its kind, reviews of “Curvy Girl Sex” were predictably positive and many point out that much of the advice in the book is applicable regardless of body size.
Frankly, Elle’s super-sex positive energy is contagious. Even if you aren’t a “curvy girl,” even if you are a man, even a gay man, you might consider reading her book just to be more enlightened about body positivity, female sexuality and sexuality in general.
We were curious about the life of a sex educator, and luckily Elle obliged us by answering a brief Q&A. But first, by way of introduction, we wanted to share the preface from “Curvy Girl Sex,” as is an insightful, personal introduction to Elle and also her book.
Take it away, Elle!
The Preface to “Curvy Girl Sex”
I became a sex educator and body acceptance advocate by accident. Fresh out of a seven-year marriage where there was barely any sex, I craved passion—which I saw on TV and movies, but never experienced in my own life. Never feeling desirable, sexy, or worthy of sexual plea-sure, I had always felt neuter, unconnected to my body and convinced that sex and the joys that came with a good sex life were for other people, not me.
So after I left my husband, I found myself at a cross-roads. I was desperate for passion, single, overweight, and completely unequipped with the tools to date successfully or to have passionate, confident sex without caring about how fat I was. I longed to feel someone crave me. But who could feel passion for a fat chick, with cellulite, scars, florescent-white skin, and crooked teeth? People like me didn’t experience high-adrenaline, fervent, ardent love affairs. I had to be realistic, and I had to accept that I was never going to be the object of the desire and salacious abandon that I craved. I had to settle for what I could find and somehow make it work.
But I was wrong. Oh boy, was I wrong.
I had nothing to lose, so I started dating online. Sure, I got rejected just like everyone does, but what I found was that all types of men were interested in me. Some of them had a penchant for my body type, some men didn’t care about body type, and some men found the whole package attractive. This was a revolutionary concept to me. I didn’t expect to sleep with or date such a variety of fascinating, smart, and passionate men—of all shapes and sizes. I dated “traditionally good-looking” actors, a super-sexy masseur, a politician, a nerdy techie, and a dashing photographer, to name a few. Most of these men were younger than me, and not only were all of them physically and personally different but they were also all attracted to me regardless of my weight and flaws. My belief that I was inherently undesirable quickly evaporated.
I realized that not only was I attracted to all types of men—tall, short, fat, skinny, long-haired, bald, scarred, smooth, muscled, soft—but that all these men were attract-ed to me. If this was true in my life, I couldn’t be the only one. This realization gave me the germ of self-confidence that I needed to further explore and experience the sexual passion I so desired and, in a short time, got. I realized that my judgment that I was unattractive and undesirable wasn’t based in reality. It was a verdict I came to subconsciously over a lifetime of feedback and opinions gathered from mean girls at school, the media, and some really poor choices in men. The truth was I was sexy as hell as long as I didn’t pay attention to my old misconceptions and instead focused on enjoying myself, which included discovering what (and who) made me feel sensual and sexy, how to identify it in my body, the ways I feel chemistry with some-one, and how to recognize when they were feeling it, too.
During this time, I recognized that the negative feelings I had toward my body and my sexual desirability was a social construct thrust upon me—one that I unwittingly and subconsciously took part in. I finally understand that this construct—that fat women aren’t sexy, or a woman must wear heels and flirty dresses, she must bat her eyes and let her date determine her dateability—was a lie. I was free. I wanted all women to know this fact. I wanted all women to know and feel confident that we are all sexy, and it has nothing to do with flat abs or lustrous hair, but everything to do with how sexy we feel and how connected we are to our sexuality.
This truth was the impetus for this book. You can’t enjoy sex if you’re constantly worrying about whether you’re sexy enough for your partner. You can’t enjoy sex when you are thinking about how to do it while looking elegant or hiding your rolls. You can’t enjoy sex if your mind is wandering and you’re not concentrating on your partner’s pleasure and your own. This is more than a book of sex positions. I hope that this book will show you how to own and accept your body the way it is right now . . . and then move on and have a fulfilling sex life.
I hope that in some way this book will empower you to not let anything get in the way of improving your sex life. Whether you learn a new position or two, come away with a better understanding of your pleasure or anatomy, or go out and buy your first sex toy, I’ll call that a success. Know that you deserve pleasure and it’s never too late to find it.
And now our Q&A with Elle…
According the Preface, you became a sex educator after your marriage ended. How does one become a sex educator? School? Online classes?
Yes! I did a lot of reading and then went through the San Francisco Sex Information Sex Educator Training Program in … where else, San Francisco.
How did you gather all the info and advice in the book?
The book is really autobiographical. I created a class called “Big, Beautiful Sex” that I had been teaching and really just expanded on it and then added 101 positions … which I tried out myself!
What is a typical day like for a sex educator?
I don’t think there is a typical day. We are all so different and varied in how we practice and work. I like to keep up with the latest studies, create new classes and content, Write about sex and prepare for upcoming teaching gigs.
What’s your key to success as a sex educator? What did you draw upon in your past, in yourself, or as inspiration and encouragement to create such an interesting career?
I don’t think of myself as a “success” so to speak. I just started doing what I had a passion for. My encouragement and inspiration comes from my colleagues like; Tristan Taormino, Anne Hodder-Shipp, JoEllen Notte, Cyndi Darnell and Emily Morse. They are all so unique and though there is crossover, they speak to different communities about sex. I think getting the word out about how important sex education is needs to be delivered in a language and level that the audience can digest and are ready to hear and each of those educators do that with expertise.
What’s the most difficult, gut-wrenching, emotional issue that your clients or readers have to deal with? Do you get a lot of questions about sex for or with transgender people?
For me, the most emotional issues I get presented with are body confidence and aging & pleasure issues. I don’t get a lot of trans related questions … probably because it’s not really in my wheelhouse and there are educators way more qualified to address those questions than I.
Have you dealt with people struggling honestly with inappropriate or clearly unacceptable/illegal sexual feelings such as child porn or pedophilia?
No. Again, not really what I attract as it’s not in my wheelhouse.
What’s the most annoying hang-up that you wish you never had to address ever again?
In a perfect world, body confidence wouldn’t be an issue. We aren’t born hating our bodies, it’s a social construct. I would love to see that eradicated.
You also have edited the “#NSFW Totally Naughty Coloring Book” and the “#NSFW Totally Curvy Coloring Book.” How did those come about?
The folx at SheVibe.com approached me about it. They had the idea and their talented artist (who is also one of the owners), Alex Kotkin was going to illustrate them. I jumped at the chance. I’m a huge fan of Alex’s work and of SheVibe in general.
Aside from your “Curvy Sex” talks on October 2 at the Pleasure Chest in NYC and Bratopia in Calgary, what’s next—either immediately or the big picture.
I’ll be teaching my Big, Beautiful Sex classes at the Pleasure Chest in West Hollywood on January /22 and in Albuquerque, New Mexico at Self Serve on January 24. I’m also co-teaching a new class with Tristan Taormino called Peri-menopause, Menopause and Pleasure at Self Serve on January 25.
Thanks Elle!
“Curvy Girl Sex” was illustrated by Jenn St.-Onge Kimmy Hutchinson, and is punctuated with gorgeously cheeky photographs of model April Flores by Nick Holmes.
Buy “Curvy Girl Sex” on Amazon.com
For more about the very accomplished Elle Chase, please click the About link at www.ElleChase.com. And check out her erotic website www.LadyCheeky.com and her equally playful “#NSFW Totally Naughty Coloring Book” and its follow-up, the “#NSFW Totally Curvy Coloring Book.”
Do follow Elle Chase @theellechase on Instagram and Twitter
Erotic Intent, May 9, 2019
Interview with a Dominatrix
Meet Domina Lyra, transatlantic Dionysian priestess, artist and sadomasochist
All photos courtesy of Lyra Lethe.
Last October at the Sex Expo at the Brooklyn Expo Center there was a constant parade of interesting people of every size, color, age, and interest. From those who didn’t know a cockring from a scrunchie to those who knew exactly what time it was.
One of the most interesting people to swing by the Perfect Fit Brand table was New York based transatlantic dominatrix, Lyra Lethe, who snapped up (literally) one of our Zoro™ one-piece strap-on dildos and left her calling card.
In going through cards and checking out Instagram accounts the next day, it was clear that this was one fascinating woman. So, herewith, an interview with Mistress Lyra Lethe.
First question: What shall I call you in the article? Lyra Lethe? Domina Lyra? And I assume the first is a pseudonym, so what’s the story behind it?
You may call me either, and I’m glad you asked about my name—I don’t get that question often. I came up with it before I can remember to represent a dark, heroic aspect of myself that I dreamed of becoming. Lyra is the harp created by the god Hermes and given to Orpheus, who played so beautifully that gods wept, monsters were lulled to sleep, and he was allowed to make a rare journey to the underworld and back. After he died, having been torn apart by maenads, his lyre was placed in the night sky for eternity. Lethe is the river of forgetfulness, which flows through Hypnos’ cave in Hades. Most of the dead drink its water and lose the memories of their past lives, but the few who resist and remember their true origins have a chance to become divine.
Why did you become a dominatrix?
It began with a longing for another realm. I have always been drawn to power play, transgression and mystery. From early on, I remember searching for a door to the otherworld, certain that I was destined for a more adventurous existence. When I first had access to the internet, I joined occult forums and saw references to dominatrices and sadomasochistic rituals.
In college, a boy began addressing me as “Mistress” without explanation and another, “Your Excellency”. I started talking to a lifestyle domme from one of my forums. I was studying ancient texts and she was interested in what I was reading and writing. She encouraged me to explore BDSM, but I was pursuing other things and it would be years before I did. Still, it remained a strong interest and I found myself thinking about it often. I admired that world from afar and I finally came to it when I was ready.
I became a dominatrix because there could be no other way; it is the fullest expression of who I am in all my aspects. I am an artist, a scholar, a poet, and a priestess. I am a tormentress and healer, captor and liberator, avenger and protector, judge and absolver, devil and god I can finally access and guide others through the other realms that have always called me. I believe it was fate.
How did you learn the ropes (pun intended)?
I first started exploring when I was living in Chicago, which had a very welcoming BDSM community. I attended munches and play parties and learned as a switch. The first time I set foot in a dungeon, it was noted that I seemed right at home in the leather swing. And I jumped right in, submitting to fire, rope, and knife play. For me, the experience of submission was initiatory. Both the positive and negative experiences I had during that time taught me lessons about communication, consent, trust, and compassion that have stayed with me as a domme. Actually, rope bondage is among my weakest skills, not for lack of trying but because I love it so much I have always ended up in it. Some of my first friends in the scene were riggers who suspended me and created meditative puzzles for me to escape.
During graduate school, I started working under the instruction of a professional Mistress and learned by doing sessions with her until I was ready to develop my own practice. I have been fortunate enough to study with one of my most-admired dominatrices, Simone Justice, and to attend DomCon where I took classes with other such legends. I continue to learn all the time through the process of sessioning and forming relationships with those who submit to me.
You clearly enjoy the work. Do you consider it work? What do you get out of it other than gifts and cash? Or does that matter? Would you do it for free?
I enjoy what I do very much and it is absolutely work. Domination is in my nature and it will always be part of my life. I have invested a great deal into it, financially and emotionally, and making it my profession allows me to continue to do so. The expenses—which include specialized equipment, wardrobe, advertising, travel, and dungeon rental—are high, and I devote a great deal of time and energy each week to administrative work as well as to planning each session. I pay self-employment taxes and am responsible for my own insurance, retirement plan, etc. while navigating all the uncertainty of working under criminalization and increasing censorship.
That said, I am privileged enough to be selective in whom I engage with, and I feel fulfilled by my work on numerous levels, in the ways that I continue to grow and help others grow. I do have personal devotees and subs who serve me beyond the limits of a traditional session, for example by performing labor in my studio or serving as creative muses. The relationships I have formed vary but transcend transactional exchange and even BDSM.
From checking out your social media, you appear to travel often to London. Do you also practice (is that the word?) in London as well as New York?
Yes, I travel to London several times a year. London has a great BDSM scene and I am cultivating a following there and elsewhere in Europe.
You refer often knowledgeably to ancient Greek and Roman and Egyptian holidays and ceremonies. Also Indian. Where you a history student?
I was a Classics student. I studied Latin in high school and went on to major in ancient Greek with a focus on death and mysticism. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the mystery cult of Dionysos and my graduate thesis on Egyptian magic. My interests were always more personal than academic. More recently I took a course in Hindu philosophy and I have learned about other cultures from some of my subs. I weave this knowledge into my dominance and it attracts those who appreciate it.
What are some of the scenes you specialize in?
I specialize in dark, creative rituals that provoke transformation and catharsis. I think of them as journeys to the underworld. What this involves is highly individual, but some of my favorite methods include mummification, sensory deprivation, and hypnosis. I enjoy psychic bondage and all kinds of metamorphosis, including feminization and animal transformation. I enjoy tearing men apart physically and psychologically. I enjoy long-term chastity training and cultivating religious devotion.
Not exactly “basic”, are you? What is your idea of a perfect weekend? Can you elaborate on the Tweet below or describe your ultimate weekend?
“Recovering from an excellent weekend of ancient art, depravity, ritual, music, dance, and sadistic sisterhood.”
That was an excellent weekend. Among other things, I performed a sacrificial ritual on a visiting suppliant and attended a play party with my sadistic sister, Goddess Sekhemra, where we flogged a pain slut together. Later that night, I ended up doing a special hypnosis session with an initiate who had ventured out to the party especially to see me, and I spent the rest of the weekend channeling that energy into my creative work.
I am an introvert, so while I find the occasional party exhilarating, I also value quiet time alone or with my close friends. Outside of the dungeon, my ideal weekend often involves painting in my studio, reading, going to the opera or an art museum, or, once in a while, getting out of the city to be under the stars.
Do your clients often give you gifts? Is this part of the role play? I’ve read of men who get off giving gifts to please their domme, like to be taken to an ATM by their domme and just handing over $500.
Yes, my subs often bring me gifts as an act of worship. Some of the gifts are fetish-related, such as boots, latex clothing, or torture devices, while others pay homage to my creative interests, such as the lyre. I appreciate every one of these offerings and the devotion that they represent. For some, being made to give me gifts or money is part of the play—there is a natural eroticism to seeing me take what is mine, as they can attest. But I most appreciate those who give to me purely out of the desire to please.
What do you think of “Bonding,” the new series about a dome and her gay BFF/assistant on Netflix. Getting a lot of negative feedback from actual dommes, as seen in this Rolling Stone article.
I haven’t watched Bonding, but from the preview it looks boring and a bit cringeworthy. As a lot of sex workers are saying, it’s upsetting to see yet another clichéd depiction of our work being promoted on the same platforms that are actively suppressing our voices and livelihoods. Besides, what we do in reality is so much more varied and interesting.
If you are interested in watching a film/ series that gets it right, I highly recommend “Remedy” and Mercy Mistress. They were both created by dominatrices based on their experiences and they portray different aspects of the work honestly and with emotional depth.
What about “Fetishes“? [an 1996 HBO documentary by filmed at Pandora’s Box in New York City. Trailer. Photos of Pandora’s Box from 1995.]
Yes, I loved that film and the Mistresses in it. I wish I could have been to the original space, especially the medical and throne rooms and those dreamy blue halls. Pandora’s moved to its current location long before I was around and I do some of my sessions there.
You are clearly a curious person and a reader. What are the last three books you enjoyed?
The Queen of the Air by John Ruskin
If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho translated by Anne Carson
The Magical Writings of Ithell Colquhoun edited by Steve Nichols
Favorite authors or bloggers?
Classics: Eidolon, Theoi Project
Occult: Scarlet Imprint, Phantasmaphile, Internet Sacred Text Archive
BDSM: Dreams Made Flesh, The Ritual Chamber, History of the Dominatrix
Fashion: The Lingerie Addict, Lucy’s Corsetry
Have you read “Slutever” by Karley Sciortino or “The Joy of Sexus: Lust, Love, and Longing in the Ancient World Paperback” by Vicki León? Sciortino’s was far more fun to read. “Sexus” was too chatty and not that well written. Considering your interest and references to ancient gods and rituals, you might like the latter, regardless. If you’ve read either, what did you think?
I haven’t read either of these, but I have watched several episodes of Slutever. I especially enjoyed the one on kidnapping, with Mistress Darcy. I’ll have to check out the books.
Can you recommend 3-5 books, fiction or non, classics or contemporary, about being a dominatrix or related to dominance and submission role play?
Female Dominance: Rituals and Practices by Claudia Varrin
Womens Rites: Scenes from the Erotic Imagination by Jeanne de Berg
History and Arts of the Dominatrix by Anne O. Nomis
Consensual Sadomasochism by William A Henkin and Sybil Holiday
The Ultimate Guide to Bondage by Mistress Couple 12
Do you incorporate music in your work? If so what kind? Do you have, say, a top 5 albums or artists you go to to set the mood for sessions?
Yes, music is an important part of the ritual for me and I enjoy putting my playlists together. They vary depending on the overall mood I want to evoke/ the arc I want to create. Siouxsie and the Banshees, Dead Can Dance, and Depeche Modeare classics. Wumpscut is great for a more frenzied mood. I love sinister choral music like Poulenc’s Gloria and Stabat Mater for religious scenes and my favorite torture music is the “Dance of the Furies” from the Gluck opera Orfeo ed Euridice.
It was fun meeting you at the Sex Expo in October. How’s that Zoro working out for you? [Lyra bought a black Zoroone-piece strap on at the Perfect Fit Brand table at the Sex Expo in Brooklyn last October.]
That was such a fun day. I love my Zoro and take it everywhere– in fact, when you emailed me, it was in my bag traveling home with me from a weekend trip. •
*A munch is a casual social gathering for people involved in or interested in BDSM.
**A switch is someone who enjoys partaking in both dominant and submissive roles.
Contact Domina Lyra Lethe at
www.dominalyra.com
Twitter/Instagram @LyraLethe
Erotic Intent, April 27, 2020
Boss Talk: Patent Power
Perfect Fit Brand CEO, innovator and inventor Steve Callow has a plan to battle intellectual property theft and support innovation in the adult novelty biz.
The following post by Perfect Fit Brand CEO Steve Callow first appeared as an Op-Ed column in the April 2020 issue of adult novelty industry trade XBIZ Premiere. Titled, “Patent Power: Perfect Fit Brand CEO Steve Callow Talks Protecting Sex Toy Inventions,” it is the lastest in a sereis of XBIZ Premeire Op-Ed pieces by Steve on protecting intellectual property in the adult novelty (sex toy) industry.
Previous articles include, “Supporting Innovation: Could Creating an Innovation Council Protect Intellectual Property?” and “Protecting Innovation: Why Is Intellectual Property Theft Tollerated?” You can read the both on our Erotic Intent blog by tapping the links.
Sex Toy Inventor Steve Callow Showa of his Big…500 page Strap-on Dildo Patent and talks about the patenting process
For sex toy inventor Steve Callow, sexual pleasure is serious business. His company, Perfect Fit Brand manufactures a wide variety of unique sex toys, known in the trade as “adult novelties. Key to Callow’s success is his intellectual property (IP), the designs of his innovative products, which he rigorously protects with patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
As an outspoken critic of copycat manufacturers and the distributors and retailers who sell their products, Callow has written a series of op-eds for adult novelty trade publication, XBIZ Premiere on the subject. See the online November and December 2019 issues for his articles, “Protecting Innovation: Why is Intellectual Property Theft Tolerated?” and follow-up, “Supporting Innovation: Could Creating an Innovation Council Protect Intellectual Property?”
“IP theft is killing innovation,” says Callow. “Lost revenues caused by stolen IP has a direct effect on the industry’s ability to grow. Companies that make dupes rob innovators of their deserved revenue and thus discourage new inventors from entering the marketplace.”
While battling the copycats can be nearly as time consuming as applying for and securing a patent, if you believe in your product, the bottom line is get that patent!
One of Perfect Fit Brand’s greatest hits is the Zoro™ strap-on dildo. A sleek, one-pieced molded unit, it remains unique in the market. Designed ergonomically for comfort, and access to genitals, it is also a great alternative for couples for whom ED is an issue. To patent the Zoro™ was a no brainer.
Another among many patented products is the Bumper® Thrust Buffer™–a giant soft donut of a penis ring designed to help ease sex in cases where either the male partner is too long, or to soften the contact between partners who have less “cushion for the pushing,'” such as seniors and those with more prominent pelvic bones.
This past December, Callow finally received the official patent package for the Zoro™. Below he answers a few questions about the patenting process for both the Zoro® and The Bumper® Thrust Buffer™.
The patent for the Zoro® was 499 pages! Who knew patents were so voluminous?
Yes! This utility patent had a 499 page “envelope” and was the result of significant back and forth with the USPTO. Our lawyers even went to the trouble to qualify me as an established inventor–a multiple patent holder–and expert in sex toy design, which will help us greatly in future patent apps
How long did it take to get the Zoro® patent?
We started the development of the patent application in September 2014 and filed in early 2015. So it took about five years.
What were the major hurdles?
The biggest hurdle was proving that the molded base plate design was significantly better in terms of performance and comfort and that was not an “obvious” improvement to existing types of strap-ons.
A little patent 101: “Utility patents” cover functionality and not physical looks. If a new patent application is not functionally different than an old patent’s function, let’s say it has three strap holes instead of two, or it looks different and has some sort of feature that is an improvement, the USPTO considers existing artwork and assesses if the new application is really an update to an existing patent, or what they call “an obvious improvement” to existing artwork. If the latter, they will deny the petitioners claim.
Initially, they considered our invention as an “obvious improvement” to an old patent, but I felt strongly that it was a significant new concept. I provided the required support materials (including customer reviews) and also pointed out that if our design was merely an “obvious” improvement, why had no one else attempted to file a patent for it? The USPTO reconsidered, then reversed their original denial and approved the patent.
You mentioned having long phone conversations. What was the issue you were discussing and how was it resolved?
We had many issues to address, as our patent application had very broad claims, and some of these had already been previously covered in existing artwork (patents). We focused on creating the specific language that covered my invention appropriately, while not competing with other (mostly expired) existing patents claims. We also registered the name “Zoro®.”
You’ve also patented the Bumper® Thrust Buffer™. Do you have the Bumper® patent? Was the process as arduous or long? Better, worse?
The patent for the Bumper® is a broad based utility patent that will protect it from infringement by those attempting to market any similarly functioning product. I had several phone discussions with the USPTO so that they understood the importance and significance of the product; that this invention will impact numerous people.
For the Bumper® patent, we used an expedited application process, and I was granted the utility patent for the Bumper® with very little issues in just about a year. We also have applied for additional IP protection with a Design Patent currently in review by the USPTO and the Registered Trademark for “Bumper®.”
It’s expensive, right? So, one assumes one has to choose products, inventions that they feel are worth the time and money to patent. Why the Zoro®, Bumper®?
Expensive is the right term for sure! It is indeed an investment, and it costs money. Using a top legal firm to represent us has increased our costs but it also makes for a better patent.
As far as choosing what products to patent, six years ago, we started patenting every invention we develop, or intend to develop. We currently have patents for the “Hollow Plug” and several other products we haven’t even actually yet produced. Around the same time we also began patenting all category “firsts,” like the Hump Gear (aka Raw Dawg) (first butt plug that can be used for penetration), the Zoro® (first one piece strap-on) and the Bumper (first thrust buffer).
If we had had the money 10 years ago, I would have patented the Tunnel Plug (open ended butt plug) and the Fat Boy (penis sheath), as well as numerous inventions found in our ergofló™ line (flex tip nozzle, the first “Comfort” nozzle, the gravity shower douche, air valve technology).
Many of our older designs have passed the one year allowance by the USPTO. (A product must be patented within one year of its first public discussion). Now, when we update existing products which have in circulation over a year, it usually isn’t worth the cost and time to patent because this point, they’ve usually been copied by another company.
Any advice to fellow inventors?
If your patent is rejected, be sure you understand the actual reasons for the rejection, often a change in language can be all that is required. Now that I’m established with USPTO as a repeat inventor with multiple patents, I’ve notice they often give my lawyers and me guidance on how we could adjust the language so the patent can be issued.
Comments to the industry?
If you are an inventor, you should patent your inventions, I’m not sure how this will benefit or affect me in the future but I know one thing for sure, I own my inventions. •
FKIN (A)rt Friday/Erotic Intent, March 16, 2018
In 1999 this 1st century silver cup depicting men fucking was the most expensive single piece of art ever purchased by the British Museum
Every Friday Erotic Intent will bring you a piece of erotic art history, from ancient Greece and Rome on up to the present day. You can see some good examples of a of erotic art through the ages in our very first post, “Dildos, Strap-ons, and Pegging: An Anal History.”
Today we present the Warren Cup and its history by way of Wikipedia (quoted text).
In 1999 the British Museum paid £1.8 mil ($3,682,147 today) for this 1st century Roman silver drinking cup. At the time it was the most expensive single piece of art ever purchased by the museum.
Depictions of gay sex where far more common in ancient Greek and Roman art that one would guess from the dearth of gay erotic art from this period on display today. Much of it was destroyed due to homophobia and ignorance. In fact, the authenticity of the Warren Cup was brought into question due to the gay sex scenes depicted.
“The cup is named after its first modern owner, Edward Perry Warren, notable for his art collection, which also included Rodin’s The Kiss statue and Cranach’s Adam and Eve painting.”
“Illustrated drinking cups, often in pairs, were intended as dinner-party conversation pieces. Roman artwork on pottery, glass and wall-paintings with sexual acts represented were popular and were intended to be seen by all sections of society. The Romans had no word for homosexuality and the images on the Warren Cup provide an important insight into this aspect of their culture.”
FYI: In ancient Rome there were many rules regarding sex, but as the article just noted, no word for or concept of homosexualty, nor did the Romans sort people into categories based on sexual preference. There was not gay or straight. Furthermore, there was no sex-shaming for sex itself.
Vicki León explains it this way in her frisky book, “The Joy of Sexus: Lust, Love,& Longing in the Ancient World” – First of all, neither the Greeks nor the Romans thought about sinfulness and guilt in the Judeo-Christian sense. The idea of mankind’s fall from grace never occurred to them. Even women, despite having to endure a lifetime of domineering males, would laugh incredulously at the thought of sex being a sin. Adultery could be a crime, as could rape, but for reasons other than sinfulness. A tangle of laws eventually would seek–not always successfully–to control some sexual behaviors and criminalize others.
“One side of the Warren Cup depicts a ‘bearded man’ and a ‘beardless youth’ engaging in anal sex in a reclining position, with the youth lowering himself using a strap or sash to be penetrated. A boy watches from behind a door. The two figures do not appear to be a great difference in age and are of a similar size. The apparent weight of the upper figure, as he lowers himself onto his lover’s penis using the support, makes this a non-traditional passive role. The use of a strap or support during sex can be found in other Greek and Roman artworks, a close example being an erotic cup by Onesimos where a woman spreads her legs in anticipation while grasping a strap with her left hand.”
“The other side depicts another scene of anal sex, between a ‘beardless’ and clean-shaven ‘young man’ and a smaller figure with long hair indicating he is a ‘boy’ or ‘adolescent’ (now the ‘eromenos’). The boy’s hairstyle is typical of the puer delicatus, a servant-boy or cup or armour bearer. Roman same-sex practice differed from that of the Greeks, among whom pederasty was a socially acknowledged relationship between freeborn males of equal social status. Roman men, however, were free to engage in same-sex relations without a perceived loss of masculinity only as long as they took the penetrative role and their partner was a social inferior such as a slave or male prostitute: the paradigm of ‘correct’ male sexuality was one of conquest and domination.”
Read more about The Warren Cup and its fascinating history on Wikipedia. And check back next Friday and on our social media for the next installment of FKIN (A)rt FRIDAY.
FKIN (A)rt Friday
March 30, 2018
Meet Gerda Wegener “The Lady Gaga of the 1920s,” painter of trendy ladies living large and, often, getting it on
Every Friday Erotic Intent will bring you a piece of erotic art history, from ancient Greece and Rome on up to the present day. You can see some good examples of a of erotic art through the ages in our very first post, “Dildos, Strap-ons, and Pegging: An Anal History.”
This week, meet Danish artist Gerda Wegener, who The Guardian called “The Lady Gaga of the 1920s.” She painted trendy ladies living large and, often, getting it on.
The film “The Danish Girl” is the story of her trans husband, Einar Wegener, who had the world’s first gender-reassignment surgery and became Lili Elbe. He ultimately died of complications due to the surgery.
Here’s what The Guardian had to say about Wegener:
“I like to think of her as the Lady Gaga of the 1920s,” says art historian Andrea Rygg Karberg, who has curated a new exhibition of Gerda’s work in Copenhagen. “Gerda was a pioneer who spent two decades as part of the Parisian art scene and revolutionised the way women are portrayed in art.” In short, Gerda Wegener was A Big Deal. “Throughout history, paintings of beautiful women were done by men,” says Rygg Karberg. “Women were typically seen through the male gaze. But Gerda changed all that because she painted strong, beautiful women with admiration and identification – as conscious subjects rather than objects.”
Read the full Guardian article here.
And here’s more about Gerda’s trans spouse, Einar aka Lili (above, as painted by Gerda) from Wikipedia:
Einar eventually identified as a male-to-female transgender woman. In 1930 she underwent the second publicly known sex reassignment surgery in history after years of living life solely as Lili Elbe. When out in public Gottlieb introduced Elbe as Einar Wegener’s sister when she was dressed in female attire. Since they were no longer man and wife, the Wegeners’ marriage was declared null and void in October 1930 by Christian X, the King of Denmark at that time. Lili died in 1931 from complications of surgery. Dora Richter/Dörchen R. was the first known transgender woman to undergo the vaginoplasty surgical approach. Its success and the resulting publicity encouraged Lili to also have the surgery; she died from post-operative infection.
Gerda’s Wikipedia page is here.
A small sampling of Gerda Wegeners beautiful and erotic work is below.
FKIN (A)rt Friday
April 5, 2018
Meet randy, snarky, 18th century pop star painter, William Hogarth
Sometime we think back in ye days of olde, everyone was buttoned up and as stuffy as an 8th grade required reading classic. But, dig, sniff, paw around or just expand your reading list or get your butt to a museum, and it is abundantly evident that our fascination with sex has been a fact of life since Eve waved that apple in Adam’s face.
Self-Portrait by Hogarth, ca. 1735, Yale Center for British Art.
Meet 18th century painter, Wiliam Hogarth (1697-1764), an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic, and editorial cartoonist. Prolific, his most successful works where those in which he was poking fun at the upper classes as they were portrayed by in the works of contemporary painters like Jean-Antoine Watteau, François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
During the 1730s British painter William Hogarth produced three versions of a series showing a young couple before and after a sexual encounter. Engraved print versions of this series were extremently popular, partically becuase they references current affairs and “celebrities; he sold over 1200 prints.
“Hogarth’s Before and After series parodied fashionable fête galante* subjects by Antoine Watteau and others French artists, as well as modern high-life subjects by Jean-François du Troy. Such works often show a nobleman making elegant protestations of love to a lady.” – Tate.org
William Hogarth, “Before”, and “After,” 1730-1.“Entitled Before and After (1730), it shows the same young couple in the woods by a tree before and after. . . fornication. Eighteenth-century London became known for its pleasure gardens, places people visited to indulge all of their senses, from music and theatre to scented gardens where prostitutes plied their trade. It is thus possible that Hogarth had in mind this particular setting for his lovers’ tryst.
“While in the Before picture, the young woman is shown in a demure pose, gesturing to the young man “leave me alone” with her right hand, she is depicted in the After scene from such an angle that one can look into her open legs and bare thighs, as she half stands near a partner who has yet to lift up his pants.” – “Sexual Mores” by Michéle C. Cone on artnet.com
“The ‘before and after’ format took a cynical turn, however, in the subsequent two series. Set in a lady’s bedchamber, the woman is cast as a reluctant prey and the man as a heartless predator…”
“The moral message of Hogarth’s Before and After series is underlined by the book positioned at the man’s feet in the After print. This refers to Aristotle’s dictum ‘Omne Animal Post Coitum Triste’ (every animal is sad after sex). While people might satisfy their sexual itch, Hogarth suggests, such sensual fulfilment is ultimately no fulfilment at all.” – Tate.org
“Hogarth made additions to the print versions of Before and After. For example, a cherub can be seen lighting the fuse of a rocket in Before, denoting male sexual excitement….”
“In After, the laughing cupid gestures at the same rocket, now spent. The books seen on the falling dressing table probably symbolize innocence or virtue being corrupted. One refers to the Earl of Rochester, a notorious seventeenth-century rake, wit and poet, whose work was renowned for its blunt references to sexual subjects, including seductions. Another, The Practice of Piety, was a highly-respected Christian treatise, first published in 1601.” – Tate.org
“I have generally found that persons who had studied painting least
were the best judges of it.” — William Hogarth
More about William Hogarth on Wikipedia, WikiArt, and Tate.org, artnet.com, and Yale Center for British Art. •
*an outdoor entertainment or rural festival, especially as depicted in 18th-century French painting.
FKIN (A)rt Friday
August 11, 2018
Meet the Actress Who Performed the First Onscreen Orgasm…and invented Wifi
For those who’ve never seen the big “O” scene or the film “Ecstasy,” starring the 17-year-old Austrian actress who became known as Hedy Lamarr, it’s thrilling to see such sensuality in an 85-year old movie.
Made in the pre-Code Hollywood era of filmaking, the film shocked the the world and scandalized the young actress so much so that she had to change her name from Hedy Kiesler to Hedy Lamarr.
From when sound was first introduced to film in 1929 through 1933 was one of the greatest and freest periods of filmmaking, as this was before Hollywood enforced the Motion Picture Production Code guidlines, also known as the Hayes code.
Check out “10 Naughty Pre-Code Films” on Flavorwire or just seach for “Pre-Code Full Movies” on YouTube.
Films from this era are shockingly modern, gleefully depicting everthing from see-through dresses worn braless (much like designer gowns now), to frank language, and sexally liberated women, such as Barbara Stanwyck in “Baby Face” where she agressively fucks her way up the corporate ladder, or Mae West in “I’m No Angel,” (and she ain’t), and “Girls About Town,” which is basically a 1931 “Sex in the City.”
Below is THE full scene from “Ecstasy,” of Hedy Lamarr in the throes of, well, ecstasy. Though beautifully and tastefully shot, the scene radiates some serious erotic heat.
Read Time Magazine’s “Meet the Actress Who Performed the First Onscreen Orgasm” on Time.com
Lamarr was not only a great actress, but brilliant inventor. “Lamar’s concepts around frequency hopping — securely transmitting radio signals — that are now used as the basis for GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth. Whatta woman!” – Vice.com
Read “hedy lamarr: the 1940s star who invented wifi” on Vice.com’s story about the Susan Sarandon documentary, “Bombshell: The Hedi Lamarr Story” (trailer’s below)
FKIN (A)rt Friday
August 17, 2018
Meet Jean-Frédéric Schall, yet another frisky 18th century painter
We love his erotic paintings, but little can be found on our Jean, aside from a Wikipedia entry in French. You can read the Google translation here.
From Wikimedia:
Jean-Frédéric Schall was born in Strasbourg and studied at the city’s public drawing school. He later entered the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Paris, in 1775.
He built his reputation upon intimate erotic and pastoral paintings in the soft, sentimental style pioneered by Jean-Antoine Watteau and Jean-Honoré Fragonard earlier in the century.
Below “Rencontre Amoureuse”
With the fall of the Ancien Régime in 1789, however, the Rococo style of which the artist was a late exponent fell out of fashion.
Schall adapted his style and continued to thrive: his The False Appearance (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg) was awarded a prize in the Salon of 1798.
Another spirited painting, “La Servante Officieuse”:
FKIN (A)rt Friday August 24, 2018
Back in old Japan, horny, eye-popping, shunga netsuke charms insured a happy sex life, as a means to safeguard against bad luck
For those unfamiliar, Japanese netsuke sculptures or carvings are a sight to behold. Their overt eroticisim would be shocking, if it weren’t so damn joyful.
As always, when discovering and checking out erotic art from centuries past, it’s reassuring to know that our ancestors where just a frisky as their descendents. Perhaps moreso.
One also gets the sneaknig suspicion that the cultural attitudes and beliefs about sexuality, though deeply structured (see ancient Greece), might have, in some aspects, been far healthier than today.
That whole shame thing was virtually nonexistent, in context. (Granted, it was complcated.) Though history books downplay sexuality, it was certainly on healthy dispaly in many cultures, from phalluses strewn across ancient Rome to these frisky netsuke charms found hung over lintels and strung on clothing in 17th century Japan.
According to the Widewalls.ch post, “Erotic Sculpture – 10 Titillating Examples from the History of Art,” netsuke were invented to serve a practical purose,
“Since the traditional Japanese garments had no pockets, netsuke were used to secure cords of the pouches that contained personal belongings “
On the fascinating and informative DangerousMinds.net website, writer Paul Gallagher holds forth on the history, meaning and use of the netsuke:
“Netsuke were primarily carved from ivory or bone though wood and whale tooth were also fashionable. The sculptures generally depicted famous people, animals (cute little bunny rabbits were very popular), plants, deities, mythical beasts and sex. These porny carvings were known as shunga netsuke and featured all forms of coitus: straight, gay, group and bestiality.
The men in these carvings generally sported humungous dicks and the women always looked rather pleased. But these miniatures were not just novelties—they were considered good luck charms…”
Read the full post and see a dizzying collectin of shunga netsuke here.
#EroticIntent #historyofsex #shunganetsuke @DangerousMindsBlog @PerfectFitBrand
FKIN (A)rt Friday May 10, 2019
Meet ballsy, charming, gay, disabled, artist, photographer and activist Robert Andy Coombs
All photographs by Robert Andy Coombs
There’s no better was to sum up the life experience that has launched the career of artist and photographer Robert Andy Coombs, than to just quote his April 24 Instagram post:
“Holy shit! Today marks 10 years since I broke my neck training a double backflip on a trampoline! I went from a crazy athletic dude to a crazy disabled dude! One thing that remains the same is my sexiness! I’ve come so far, re-learning how to breathe, swallow, and live on my own… Now I am getting my MFA in photography @yale !!! Never in 1 million years did I think I would be where I’m at today, but I’m glad to be here, and I am glad to have my amazing family and friends with me every roll of the way! Here’s to the next 10!”
Robert talked to Erotic Intent FKIN (A)rt Friday about his photography, future and sex. Below a quick Q&A with Robert and a small selection of his photographs.
1 When do you get your masters and what has your work toward getting your mastered entailed? How has your work been received by your professors? Fellow students?
I will receive my MFA in 2020. I believe my professors and visiting critics definitely like my work along with my fellow students, everyone is wondering what I’m going to do next. I usually will run a few pictures by my fellow students 1st just to help me edit down to the best pictures.
2 What are your plans after? Presumably you will continue with your fine art photography, but you’d once wanted to be a fashion photographer. Does that remain of interest to you as a career?
After graduation, I plan to start teaching right away. I need to get a big person job so that I can start getting some income! Other than that, I am definitely down to start getting paid for speaking engagements, would love to travel more, and most definitely I will people working on my artwork! I would love to do fashion photography as well, I would love to be commissioned for that work, but I don’t think it will be my true focus anymore.
However, I would have to make sure we incorporated disability somehow into fashion photography, it’s about time we diversify beyond race, gender, and sexuality. It would be amazing to incorporate disability into the fashion industry, but I think the industry needs to rethink who to make the garments for. If you design for disabled people, it benefits everyone. Able-bodied people would be able to wear clothing that was designed for disabled bodies, and who knows they might enjoy it as well.
3 Are you doing commercial work now or strictly grad school, fine art?
I am currently just working on my fine art, but if someone commissions me to do something I would take it in a heartbeat! So if anyone out there is reading, if you have a check, I have a talent!
4 What are your plans for the summer? Shoots?
I applied to the Fire Island Artist Residency on Fire Island, New York, but I’m still waiting to hear back from them! I think my artwork would blossom from the gay history of fire Island. I would also have a large pool of homosexuals to draw from, which would help me make work! I received a grant from Yale, so I will definitely be traveling somewhere where there is a lot of beautiful boys.
5 Do you have a particular sexual experience that was particularly hot or special to you that you’d like to share?
One date that sticks out to me was when I lived back in Michigan and I went out to dinner and a play with this guy. After dinner, the play, and a few drinks, we were getting my wheelchair hooks and seatbelt in order in my van. As he was hooking my seatbelt we became face-to-face and he looks into my eyes and said “when I was feeding you dinner, I was so hard…” Then we proceeded to make out. Needless to say, we went back to my place…The intimacy that I experience with other guys on my dates are extremely sexually charged being in close proximity to each other. You can play with that which makes the sexual tension so much hotter.
6 As this will run on the blog of sex toy company, the obvious question is, are you a fan of sex toys? Have you found any that enhance sex with a partner or solo? If so, what are they, what’s been your experience?
I absolutely love toys! 2 of my favorites are the wand thunder stick, which is a high powered vibrator that I use sometimes to help me ejaculate. The other is the Lovense line of Bluetooth/long-distance vibrators that connect to your smart phone. You can literally play with anyone in the world as long as you have an Internet connection. This helps me play with my partner when they have it inserted, then I can taunt and tease As I please.
7 If you see a toy on www.perfectfitbrand.com that you’d like, let me know and we’d be happy to send it to you.
I’m in need of better fitting clock rings, so whichever ones are the most versatile and comfortable the use! Would also be interesting to come up with a line of toys specifically for Disabled people! Being able to masturbate on my own would be amazing! Or other ways of making toys accessible to use on my partners, especially BDSM. •
Three excellent articles about Robert Andy Coombs: The Yale Daily News, Topology Magazine and Mel Magazine.
To see much more of Robert Andy Coombs work, go to www.RobertAndyCoombs.com and follow him on Instagram @robertandycoombs
FKIN (A)rt Friday May 18, 2018
Meet the lovely, inclusive, LGBTQ loving artist, Felix D’Eon
Tripping over the glorious queer art of Felix D’Eon whilst in a Twitter hole will stop even the most derailed ADD victim in their tracks. Vintage in feel, gracious and sensuous, D’Eon’s art is a welome oasis in a digital world stobing by at seizure-inducing speed.
He aptly introduces himself on Twitter, “I am a Mexican, latinx painter and activist dedicated to the art of queer love, romance, and sensuality.”
Caption from his Facebook page: “The famed Edwardian pornographer, Felix d’Eon.”
Sweet, friskly, and lovely, this is feel-good art for everyone, wherever you fall on or near the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
“The feeling of seeing oneself reflected in art is very important; this is something which I think straight people might take for granted,” he told OUT.com in an interview last year.
From grand masterpieces (above) to figure painting, to tarot, shunga, and greeting cards, D’Eon’s rich catalog is available to view and purchase online at http://www.felixdeon.com Please do yourself a favor, and visit his website (just paging through the homepage slideshow is a delight), and don’t miss the blog, to get a look behind the art. And buy some art!
Above: Felix D’Eon “Love Is Love”
From his website, here is his bio.
Felix was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, to a French father and a Mexican mother. At a very young age, he and his family moved to Southern California, where he spent most of his childhood and adolescence. He attended college at the Academy of Art University, in San Francisco, and subsequently lived in San Francisco until 2010, when he returned to his native Mexico.
Above: Felix D’Eon “Camción Mexicana”
He now live in Mexico City with his mini schnauzer, Caperucita Satori. While home is now Mexico, he travels extensively, and has lived at various times in Florence, Tennessee, Bangkok, Oahu, New Orleans, and in various cities around Mexico.
Above: Felix D’Eon “Where’s Kitty?”
He has exhibited around the United States and Mexico, and his work is carried in stores and galleries around the world. His work has also been published in a variety of magazines and in other formats, most recently appearing on the cover of “The Advocate.”
Above: Felix D’Eon “Siren’s Allure”
He is enraptured by various art-historical styles, such as Edwardian fashion and children’s book illustration, golden-era American comics, and Japanese Edo printmaking. In his work, he attempts to make the illusion of antiquity complete, using antique papers and careful research as to costume, set, and style.
Above: Felix D’Eon “Mermaid’s Wedding”
His goal is perfect verisimilitude. He subverts their “wholesome” image and harnesses their style to a vision of gay love and sensibility. D’Eon treats vintage illustrative styles as a rhetorical strategy, using their language of romance, economic power, and aesthetic sensibility as a tool with which to tell stories of historically oppressed and marginalized queer communities.
Above: Felix D’Eon “Song the Whole World Sings”
By painting images of queer love, seduction, sex, and romance, the gay subject is stripped of its taboo nature. For unlike artists such as Tom of Finland, whose work is a celebration of the outlaw status of queer sexuality, d’Eon’s work seeks to normalize the marginal, and place the heretofore taboo subject at the center, through the use of the rhetorical styles of the historically empowered and mainstream.
Above: Felix D’Eon “Not at the Office”
In the artists work, the illustrative imagery of the past does not cease to be wholesome through the inclusion of gay sex and sensibilities. He simply expands the notion of what wholesome is, erasing shame and celebrating desire.
Every Friday Erotic Intent will bring you a piece of erotic art history, from ancient Greece and Rome on up to the present day. You can see some good examples of a of erotic art through the ages in our very first post, “Dildos, Strap-ons, and Pegging: An Anal History.” We’d love suggestions of artists to feature. And if you create your own erotic art, please message us via our Facebook page.
#felixdeon @FelixdEon #FKINArtFriday #LGBTart #queerart #loveislove
FKIN (A)rt Friday May 25, 2018
Meet New York photographer Ron Amato
All photos: ©Ron Amato
For respected New York photographer Ron Amato thinking inside “The Box” has proven to be very sexy.
“The Box,” in this case, is the title of Amato’s monograph of gorgeously sensual male nudes. At 112 pages, in a smart 10”x10” format, “The Box” was released in 2017 following a widly successful Kickstarter campaign to complete production.
Focused on themes of isolation, desire, conflict and empowerment, Ron Amato uses a series of boxes to create visual metaphors, echoing his development from adolescence to adulthood through over 100 color, and black and white photographs.
“Most of my artwork explores issues of sexuality. The enigma of attraction has been an ongoing question,” says Amato. “With ‘The Box’ I was able to explore those themes more deeply, helping me develop a better understanding of myself as a gay man and the larger gay universe.”
Over thirty men, reflecting a diversity of ages, cultures, races and lifestyles–a thread that runs throughout Amato’s work–were photographed for “The Box.”
Amato is an full-time Associate Professor of Photography at New York City’s FIT (The Fashion Institute of Technology), where he has been for the last 12 years, 6 of which as the Chairperson of the Photography Department He has exhibited extensively in the US and internationally, been published in a number of anthologies and photographed for fitness and sports magazines, including Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness and Sports Illustrated.
Photo by Gregg Evans
Ron lives in Brooklyn with his husband Seth and their two Fox Terriers, Ben and Zeb.
View more of his work, including his “Gay In Trumpland” series and buy “The Box” on Amato’s classy, but NSFW website at www.ronamato.com
Ron’s Instagram page is at @ron_amato
Every Friday Erotic Intent will bring you a piece of erotic art history, from ancient Greece and Rome on up to the present day. You can see some good examples of a of erotic art through the ages in our very first post, “Dildos, Strap-ons, and Pegging: An Anal History.” We’d love suggestions of artists to feature. And if you create your own erotic art, please message us via our Facebook page.
@ron_amato #FKINartFriday #gayart #eroticart
FKIN (A)rt Friday June 1, 2018
Meet Franz von Bayros, the man behind some of the most imaginative and gorgeous erotic art of the 20th Century
For anyone who’s ever been naiive enough to think for a minute that conteporary culture has a monopoly on erotic art, get into Franz von Bayros.
(Public domain illustrations from his scandalous “Tales at the Dressing Table” series illuminate this page.)
Bayros was one of several artists and writers who rose to fame out of the Decadent movement, a late 19th century artistic and literary movement that basically spurned and mocked industrialized society and instead celebrated self-indulgence, drugs (hello, opium and absinthe!), perversion, crude humor, and sensuality.
Superstars of the Decadent movement, many of which were said to have been influenced by 18thcentury writer the Marquis de Sade, included authors Charles Baudelaire, Joris-Karl Huysmans, Arthur Rimbaud, Oscar Wilde and artists Félicien Rops, Aubrey Beardsley, and our FKIN (A)rt Friday man, Franz von Bayros.
The movement influenced literary greats from Jean Genet, Christopher Isherwood, and William Burroughs, to contemporary authors Edmund White, Tony O’Neill and Richard Milward.
Contemporary artists influenced by the Decadent movement include Baz Luhrman, Pedro Almodóvar, the Chapman brothers, and singers from Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and Jim Morrison to Billie Ray Martin and Marc Almond whose albums including and since he was in Soft Cell are Decadent masterpieces.
From pornokrate.com: “Bayros Decadents more than a quarter of a century after the death of Aubrey Beardsley in 1898. His art is an unmistakable cocktail of rococo daintiness, Beardsley-esque technique and witty, decadent eroticism. He was obliged to move from one European capital to another as each outrageous new work was banned by the authorities.”
From Wikipedia.com: “Franz von Bayros (28 May 1866 – 3 April 1924) was an Austrian commercial artist, illustrator, and painter, best known for his controversial “Tales at the Dressing Table” portfolio, examples of which are on this page. He belonged to the Decadent movement in art, often utilizing erotic themes and phantasmagoric imagery. Bayros was born in Zagreb, in present-day Croatia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.”
“At the age of seventeen, he passed the entrance examination for the Vienna Academy with Eduard von Engerth. Bayros mixed in elegant society and soon belonged to the circle of friends of Johann Strauss II, whose stepdaughter Alice he married in 1896. The next year, Bayros moved to Munich. In 1904, he gave his first exhibition in Munich, which was a great success. From 1904 until 1908, he travelled to Paris and Italy for further studies. Returning to Vienna, he felt himself a stranger. The outbreak of the First World War came as yet another setback for Bayros. He died in 1924 of a cerebral hemorrage.”
See more Franz von Bayros are Darkart and Arterotismo.
Every week, on EROTIC INTENT, our FKIN (A)rt Friday post will bring you a piece of erotic art history, from ancient Greece and Rome on up to the present day. You can see some good examples of a of erotic art through the ages in our very first post, “Dildos, Strap-ons, and Pegging: An Anal History.” We’d love suggestions of artists to feature. And if you create your own erotic art, please message us via our Facebook page.
#eroticart #franzvonbayros #decadentmovment #decadentart #fkinartfriday
FKIN (A)rt Friday October, 5, 2018
The electrifying, erotic, fetish fantasy art of Japanese illustrator Pater Sato
Pater Sato (born, Yoshinori Sato) is a Japanese artist, living in New York, who is most famous for his sleek, erotic, sci-fi inspired airbrush art of the late 1970s and early 80s. His art, like that of Patrick Nagel, is iconic to the era.
As a commerical artist, Sato’s art appeared in advertisments, magazines and on album covers. If you were/are into disco, and loved “Funkytown” by Lipps, Inc., he did both the cover for that album, titled “Mouth to Mouth,” and the previous album, “Pucker Up.” Below.
An example of some of Sato’s finest, fetish art was published in the January 1980 Penthouse magazine in a series entitled “SatoMasochism.” Images were accopanied by erotic literary quotes. So, herewith, those images. (This issue of Penthouse is apparently for sale on Ebay.)
Finally, we’ll leave you with one last image, this one from a 1985 Playboy. How fucking gorgeous and hot–and a little twisted–is this?!
#eroticart #80sart #patersato #sadomasochism #fetish
FKIN (A)rt Friday May, 24 2019
Hum and diddle to 1880’s artist Joseph Apoux’s Alphabet Erotic
Learning your ABCs via the randy illustrations of 1880’s French artist, Joseph Apoux is more than, uh, fun-damental, it’s a downright encyclopedia of sexual positions!
Though there is little biographic information online about Apoux, aside from a bit of info that accompanies a video of his ABCs, he is surely most famous for his “Alphabet Pornographique.”
Joseph Apoux was born in Paris circa 1860. Little is known of the life of this French artist, renowned for for his risqué & titillating etchings. Creator of the erotic ” Alphabet Pornographique “. A fantastic group of striking images, which is typical of the “fin de siecle” obsessions with sex, death & the bizarre of the French Aesthetic Arts at the end of the 19th century.Apoux participated in the * L’Exposition Internationale de Blanc et Noir * during 1886 in Paris.This libertine artist, etcher & engraver studied art with Jean-Leon Gerome & exhibited at French Salons circa 1880 – 1910, his date of death unknown.
(Apoux was a popular during the French Decadent movement in literature and art of the late1800s. It was a crazy time. Read more about it on Wikipedia.)
We’ve provided the first 6 letters, or the first line of “The Alphabet Song,” but here’s a link to large versions of all 26 letters on the always entertaining Dangerous Minds blog, just in case you want to hum and diddle along.
FKIN (A)rt Friday July, 27 2018
The Violators: Important NYC exhibition showcases Queer art targeted by social media censorship
About a month ago FKIN (A)rt Friday introduced you to New York City artist Gio Black Peter.
We’re back to let you know that Gio has curated an imporant group show featuring some of the best queer artists on the scene:
Studio UZI is proud to present:
The Violators
July 27 – August 13, 2018
A group exhibition featuring 15 Queer artists whose works have been targeted by censorship on social media.
Alex La Cruz, Anne Lamb, Ari Fraser, Bruce LaBruce, Damien Blottiere, Gio Black Peter, Joseph Wolfgang Ohlert, Natasha Gornik, Oliver Sarley, Paco Y Manolo, Ruben Esparza, Slava Mogutin, Stuart Sandford, Timothy Hill
RSVP for the address to StudioUZInyc@gmail.com
Letter from Gio Black Peter
Your posts have been deleted.
Your accounts have been disabled.
“What kind of content posted on social media warrants having your account deactivated? Who determines genitalia too offensive for the general public to view while simultaneously approving images of let’s say, the Trump clan propping up the head of an elephant that they just murdered? At what point did we as a society decide that images of violence are acceptable but nudity and sexuality should be shunned?…” continue reading on the Studio UZI “The Violators” webpage.
—
Read the interview with Gio Black Peter on Conde Naste’s LGBTQ blog, Them.us.
Note: Hardly a stereotypical opening (bored people, bad wine), this one is going to be a scene, with live performances, screenings, a documentary TV crew, and hundreds of people. Details are on the webpage. Thought it’s an important show, consider checking it after tonight. Show runs through August 13. Be sure to RSVP for the location to StudioUZInyc@gmail.com.
The blog teaser image at top, left is the censored version of a work by Oliver Sarley. Below are several more examples from The Violators show of art that has been censored by social media along with the orginal art. The final image is the uncensored art by Oliver Sarley.
Social media censored art by Paco y Manolo
Uncensored art by Paco y Manolo
Social media censored art by Anne Lamb
Uncensored art by Anne Lamb
Social media censored art by Ari Fraser
Uncensored art by Ari Fraser
Social media censored art by Damien Blottiere and Bruce LaBruce
Uncensored art by Damien Blottiere and Bruce LaBruce
Censored art by Gio Black Peter
Uncensored art by Gio Black Peter
Uncensored art by Oliver Sarley
#queerart #theviolators #studioUZI #AlexLaCruz #AnneLamb #AriFraser #Bruce LaBruce #Damien Blottiere #GioBlackPeter #JosephWolfgangOhlert #NatashaGornik #OliverSarley #PacoYManolo #RubenEsparza #SlavaMogutin #StuartSandford #TimothyHill
FKIN (A)rt Friday October, 26 2018
Get into the gorgeous, gloriously erotic Man Art of renowned fashion illustrator and artist, Richard Vyse
Thanks to a recent post on Advocate.com, you’re being turned on to the art of Richard Vyse. A former fashion illustrator, he dedicates his time to painting beatiful, vibrant and sensous males nudes.
by Richard Vyse
Wet Dream by Richard Vyse
Richard’s Man Art has been presented in numerous art publications, including, in order of most recent, Congruence Journal of Literary and Art, Noisy Rain Magazine, Angry Old Man Magazine, Jack the Lad, Advocate, Mascular. (All are interesting, welcome divergences from mainstream gay media, so we’ve include links in the names of all.)
Man Hunk by Richard Vyse
Man Mood by Richard Vyse
So, herewith, our first, though brief, Q&A with an artist for our FKIN (A)rt Friday series on Erotic Intent. Meet Richard Vyse and his lush, louche and lovely art, much of which is available purchase. More on that at the end of the post.
Richard Vyse
1 What led you to the School of Visual arts and then to fashion illustration? Where you drawing since a child? Wowing your high school art teachers?
Before studying at School of Visual Arts I illustrated fashion ads for a chain of department stores in Wisconsin H.G Prange. I always drew women in fashions as a child but knew I needed more training to illustrate for New York department stores.
Fashion illustration by Richard Vyse
2 What was your first big gig in fashion, and what was that like?
My first ads were for Macy’s, appearing full-page in the New York Times. I also created fashion art for Vogue promotions, Mademoiselle trend reports, and many fashion designers, including ads for Versace.
by Richard Vyse
3 Of your commercial art, where you always making sensual male nudes or nearly nude works? Or as this something that was more private, perhaps until later in your career?
After many years drawing the fashion figure I now totally focus on the male nude. I attended many open studios drawing the nude figure. I enjoy the freedom of creating art with no deadline or specifics. Male Art expresses my gay sensibility that is more emotional experience for me.
by Richard Vyse
4 Where does your mind go for inspiration, to visualize, create the men we see in your work? And what determines, inspires your color palette for a particular illustration?
Working from photos as reference but cropping and interpreting to make it my own. I choose black and white, monotone or colors depending on the look and mood I want.
by Richard Vyse
5 You say these men exist in fantasy only, and you rarely do portraits, but I can imagine many men—single or couples—would love to be painted by you. Or is paining for a client take all the fun out of it?And do you still do commercial work?
I do not do commercial art now, but do collaborate with guys who can do great selfies that I can interpret for a portrait. I have to be inspired by a look not necessarily traditionally handsome. I prefer to have the freedom of creating an idealized guy that only exists in my mind and art.
by Richard Vyse
Lad Scape by Richard Vyse
See more Richard Vyse art on his Man Art website and on his Instagram page. Many of Richard Vyse’s works are avaialble for purchase, such as his Man Strokes series, which can be seen on his website. All are acrylic on 14″x17″paper. Price upon request. Intersted? Messenger Richard his Facebook page.
Richard’s art is also available on a series of cards and scarves. Buy them on Redbubble.
There will be a showing of Richard Vyse’s art at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York City from February 3-5, 2019. A bit of a ways off, but if you’re in NYC or plan to be, put it in your calendar. Subscribe to the museum’s mailing list or follow them on social media for a reminder. www.leslielohman.org
And do check out the gay/queer art magazines mentioned above, if you’re suffering from mainstream mallaise.
@artbyvyse @leslielohmanmuseum #gayart #queerart #richardvyse #leslielohmanmuseum
FKIN (A)rt Friday November, 2 2018
Meet Leonor Fini, Argentinian artist known for her depictions of powerful women
For those lucky enought to live in or be visiting the New York City area, check out the new Leonor Fini exhibiton at the city’s Museum of Sex.
Titled “Leonor Fini: Theater of Desire, 1930-1990” and running September 28, 2018 – March 4, 2019, the exhibiton contains pantings, designs and illustrations by the prolific artist.
Leonor Fini – Museum of Sex exhibition
“I always imagined that I would have a life very different than the one imagined for me, but I understood from a very early age that I would have to revolt in order to make that life.” – Leonor Fini
From the Museum of Sex webpage on the exhibition:
The Museum of Sex (MoSEX) presents Leonor Fini: Theatre of Desire, 1930-1990, the first American museum survey of the work of Argentine-Italian artist Leonor Fini (b. 1907, Buenos Aires, Argentina–d. 1996, Paris, France). The exhibition will immerse visitors in Leonor Fini’s life and career from the 1930s to the 1980s. Although Fini exhibited in major Surrealist surveys throughout the 1930s and 40s, and counted Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí as friends, she rejected the invitation to officially join the group, disavowing movement leader André Breton’s traditional view of woman as muse.
Le carrefour d’hecate, 1977-78
Multi-talented and fearlessly forward thinking, she refused to be categorized in any way, especially through gender norms. Her art explored the masculine and feminine, dominance and submission, eroticism and humor. She also went beyond the medium of painting to embrace theatre, ballet, the illustrated book and costume. She not only rejected tradition and social conventions, she insisted that identity, like artistic expression, is never fixed – it must constantly be open to inspiration and imagination.
Leonor Fini Les Aveugles, 1968
Largely self-taught, as a teenager growing up in Trieste she liked to visit the morgue and always took inspiration from a wide range of art and literature. In the 1930s she won the attention of critics thanks to her first exhibitions at the Julien Levy Gallery and her inclusion in the major Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism exhibition in 1936 at MoMA in New York. She also quickly acquired a reputation for uncensored eroticism within a figurative style that might be compared to earlier art styles – the Symbolists, Pre-Raphaelites and Flemish Masters from Bosch to Bruegel, but which also advanced the artistic aspirations of Surrealism. From then through to her last works, she inverted canonical traditions of the muse by staging men as androgynous, passive beauties and herself as a Sphinx-like force, embodying the power of both life and death.
Leonor Fini Femme assise sur un homme nu, 1942
Her illustrations for the Marquis de Sade’s Juliette (secretly printed on presses at the Vatican in 1944) further revealed her unorthodox sense of the erotic – one which led to collaborations with such writers as Georges Bataille, Jean Cocteau and Jean Genet. Throughout her life, and especially in her homes in Paris, the Loire Valley, and a ruined medieval monastery in Corsica, Fini presided over a ménage of cats and lovers, including two primary partners (Stanislao Lepri and Konstanty ‘Kot’ Jeleński) as well as numerous platonic friends and admirers whose presence allowed her to live in what she termed a “community.”
Leonor Fini Armoire Anthropomorphe, 1939
Fini’s turn to the theme of the masquerade in her art and collaborations perhaps best reflects her understanding of freedom. The powerful self-portraits she produced throughout her long career present woman as warrior, sphinx, dominatrix and feline goddess, mastering landscapes and lovers alike. The costumes she produced for George Balanchine and Federico Fellini, as well as the fantastic feathered masks and elaborate costumes she made to wear at grand society balls, continued this theme of self-fashioning and won her the attention of the press as well as such photographers as Carl Van Vechten, André Ostier and Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Leonor Fini La lecon de botanique, 1974
Spanning two floors, and featuring works from the 1930s through the 1980s, Leonor Fini: Theatre of Desire, 1930-1990 will include paintings, book illustrations, drawings and costume designs, as well as objects she designed, such as her iconic ‘Shocking’ perfume bottle for Elsa Schiaparelli (a design referenced by Jean Paul Gautier’s Classique and now Kim Kardashian’s KKW).
Shocking by Elsa Schiaparelli. Photo by http://www.toutenparfum.com
A showcase of Fini’s extensive artist books will include her 1944 illustrated edition of the Marquis de Sade’s Juliette and her 1962 illustrations for Pauline Réage’s The Story of O. A large selection of photographs and ephemera from the Leonor Fini Archive in Paris will also be on display, documenting her sense of life as theatre. Fini’s many admirers have included Andy Warhol, Madonna, and more recently Maria Grazia Chiuri, head of the house of Dior, whose Spring 2018 collection was dedicated to her. With Leonor Fini: Theatre of Desire, 1930-1990, she is certain to gain many more.
More about the exhibition at www.museumofsex.com
FKIN (A)rt Friday November,15 2018
An interview with the creators of Phile Magazine: The International Journal of Desire and Curiosity
Revisiting our Fall 2018 feature on Phile Magazine. Check the website for the latest issue.
For this edition of FKIN (A)rt Friday, we are lucky enough ot have an interview with the creators of the fascinating sex/art/culture magazine, Phile.
They describe Phile as “a biannual journal exploring sexual subcultures, trends, and communities both obscure and well known from an overarching, sociological point of view.”
Phile Issue No. 3 Fall 2018 features Ana Benaroya, Andrew Griffiths, Annie Sprinkle, Ashkan Sepahv and Carlos Saez, D. Alex Pitagora, Ebecho Muslimova, Elizabeth Olear, Elizabeth Stephens, Fan Wu, Gregory Blunt, Huw Lemmey, Ion Birch, João Gabriel, Joseph Kadow, Julian DuFour, Lexi Minoa, Lindsay Dye, Mark Blower, Molly Matalon, Peaches, Prem Sahib, Robert Anthony O’Halloran, Robert Yang, Samantha Sutcliffe, Sholem Krishtalka, Sophia Larigakis, Valeria Herklotz, and Zack Kotzer. That’s a lot of culture!
The new issue of Phile is available to order online and shipping now to to cool art/book shops across North America and Europe. Go to www.philemagazine.com to order and view a full list of stockists (bottom of the homepage).
Now meet the creators of Phile. Images below are spreads from the new issue. ..
Some may consider Phile a fetish magazine, but you present its contents sans labels, as more of a buffet of interesting, unusual or just downright curious sexual practices for the pleasure and edification of your readers. Was this the original intention?
Yes, that was always our intent. Since the subject of sexuality is so expansive and our desires are unique to each one of us, we wanted our content and the flow of the magazine to reflect that range. Our content is by and for everyone. Presenting writing and artwork from an overarching perspective is a crucial part of our practice and identity.
Who are the people behind Phile and can you tell us a bit about the background of each?
The creators and Co-EICs of Phile are Mike Feswick and Erin Reznick. Mike is a multidisciplinary artist currently living in New York. His work explores desire, erotica and sexuality. As mentioned, he ran Up & Coming magazine and has worked in the sex industry in various ways for the past decade. Mike is the art director of Phile.
Erin is a producer and curator based between Toronto and Berlin. She has written for various magazines and has worked with an array of artists and musicians to create performances and cultural events around the world. Erin is the managing editor of Phile.
We also work closely with our designers Julia Troubetskaia and Tom van Ryzewyk who are also based in Toronto. They work collaboratively with us on the visual identity of Phile and create everything with us including the promotional posters, merchandise and the layout of the publication.
Spread from Phile Issue No. 3: Left photo by Handcuffed. Right photo by PP LePoo.
Spread from Phile Issue No. 3: Carlos Saez – Human Appearance Optional
How did Phile begin? As an idea? Collection of art you wanted people to see? Was there a manifesto?
We started Phile over two years ago after discussing the importance of sharing underrepresented stories. We wanted to create something that explored sexuality in a way that allows people to express themselves more freely. We consider Phile as an evolution of a previous project that Mike started in 2011 called Up & Coming. Up & Coming was a quarterly erotic pan-sexual magazine with the intention of showing various body types, genders and sexual practices. After becoming fast friends, we decided to start Phile as a larger, international publication that explores sexuality from an overarching perspective.
Spread from Phile Issue No. 3: Molly Matalon – Penny Pincher
How do you cull and curate the art, content, writers for each issue? Is it a long process?
The stories we share come from research, personal experience, conversations and submissions. Sometimes we think of a concept for a piece, commission the most appropriate writer and then think of a compatible artist to create work based on the writing. Sometimes the artwork comes first. In any case we commision people to create work based on their own personal experience. This keeps the content fresh and relevant, and allows our contributors to share their authentic stories.
We spent about one year developing the project before our first issue was released, but each subsequent issue is produced within a five month period. Producing photo shoots and editing all of the written material are long processes, so it’s always a hustle to get the mag to print on schedule.
Spread from Phile Issue No. 3: Mark Blower and Prem Sahib – Chariots of Shoreditch
Spread from Phile Issue No. 3: Ion Birch – Celebration (2016)
How much of the art and content in Phile is original to Phile?
Most of the content in Phile is original. We want to use the platform to share work and stories from a diverse roster of people, and that includes artists who may have not been published before. Some of the work we show is not new but is either pertinent to a particular article or we feel hasn’t been given enough attention.
Spread from Phile Issue No. 3:Still from “Succulent” (2015) Created by Robert Yang
What has been the most popular features you’ve published so far and why?
It’s hard to pinpoint our most popular features because we receive such diverse feedback; we love how our readers relate to different stories. The essay La Pute Arabe, written by Ashkan Sepahvand is one of our most memorable pieces. It is a personal essay set in Paris recounting its narrator’s various sexual forays there as a visitor, a foreigner, and a brown gay man. The subject is the Arab man, a complex symbol within the European imagination, one that embodies virility, power, and danger yet also weakness, brutishness, and pity. Accompanied by the colorful and introspective drawings by Soufiane Ababri, the essay is one that we’ve been thrilled to publish and has stood out to our readers.
Spread from Phile Issue No. 3:Still from “Hurt Me Plenty” (2014) Created by Robert Yang
Spread from Phile Issue No. 3: Peaches, Annie Sprinkle, Beth Stephens by Holger Talinski from “What Else is in the Teaches of Peaches,” 2015.
Aside from Instagram, PHILE is strictly print. Clearly this is on purpose. In the age of digital everything, including magazines that exist only as flipbooks, why print vs. digital?
We love printed matter, we think it’s important to keep the tradition alive. We love producing the magazine as a tactile object, and that comes through in our design. Sex is a multi-sensory experience and we also like to approach multiple mediums to best understand different forms of sexual expression. Aside from the visual and tactile nature of the magazine, we also produce erotic videos, sexy make-out mixes on SoundCloud and host a range of events such as parties and installations. We enjoy experimenting with a variety of disciplines – we’ve produced an olfactive screening with the perfumery Folie À Plusieurs, a concert by Christeene, and performances by Young Boy Dancing Group, Narcissister and AGF Hydra.
Spread from Phile Issue No. 3: Joseph Kadow – Liquido
Spread from Phile Issue No. 3: Ebecho Muslimova – Fatebe Itchy Butt and Fatebe Flamenco
As you produce art in multiple mediums are there any other Phile projects or events in the works we should be on the lookout for?
We are focussing on producing original videos and will be releasing two new videos in the next couple of months. Keep your eye on our social media channels for our new projects and collaborations.
Finally, FYI, going out on a sweet note, Phile also makes and sells their very own lube (!), called Fluid. Why the lube?
The lube: we created Phile Fluid for the launch of our first issue. We created a formula for an oil based lubricant that is completely body safe (although not condom friendly). Ingredients include: calendula oil, sweet almond oil, hemp oil and sea buckthorn – excellent oils for hydrating skin and repairing damaged tissue. We are planning on making a new batch soon.
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FKIN (A)rt Friday January 5, 2019
The Porn (Not Porn) of Ancient Pompeii
2000 years ago, there was no shame associated with a healthy sex life. At least not in the sense that people are still slut-shamed today.
Sex was considered part of a full public life. Brothels flourished, and within them–as well as in private homes–erotic art was on full, glorious, display.
We have the art to admire today, thanks to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79 A.D., which burred the city of Pompeii, thus preseriving the art.
Above: In The Suburban Baths Pompeii a mural has been unearthed which depicts a threesome with female-to-male-to-female anal penetration aka pegging.
Related: Dildos, Strap-Ons, and Pegging: An Anal History
Here, pulled from various websites, with more where available, are a few examples of erotic art, mostly from brothels, but ending with a releif sculpture from a private home. In the brothels the art often served as a menu, where clients could peruse the sex acts available.
The Suburban Baths, Pompeii
The Suburban Baths, Pompeii
The Suburban Baths, Pompeii
The Suburban Baths, Pompeii
More about The Suburban Baths on Wikipedia
FYI: In ancient Rome (and presumably througout the empire) there were many rules regarding sex (it was not the free-for-all some fantasize about), but there was no word for–nor concept of–homosexualty, nor did the Romans sort people into categories based on sexual preference. There was not gay or straight. Furthermore, there was no sex-shaming for sex itself. Vicki León explains it this way in her frisky book, “The Joy of Sexus: Lust, Love,& Longing in the Ancient World”
“First of all, neither the Greeks nor the Romans thought about sinfulness and guilt in the Judeo-Christian sense. The idea of mankind’s fall from grace never occurred to them. Even women, despite having to endure a lifetime of domineering males, would laugh incredulously at the thought of sex being a sin. Adultery could be a crime, as could rape, but for reasons other than sinfulness. A tangle of laws eventually would seek–not always successfully–to control some sexual behaviors and criminalize others.”
The following six images are from the http://www.pompeii.org.uk article “Forbidden Pompeii“
Facade of the Brothel of Pompeii
Brothel of Pompeii: One of the illustrated scenes of sexual acts advertising the specialities of the resident prostitute.
The House of Cecilio Giocondo from Pompeii
The House of the Faun in Pompeii
Satyr and Hermaphrodite in Pompeii
The House of the Centenary
Read The Conversation post “The grim reality of the brothels of Pompeii” for more.
More images from around the web:
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FKIN (A)rt Friday January 11, 2019
Meet Mel Odom, the artist who’s gorgeous, homoerotic art defined an era
All illustrations by Mel Odom. http://www.mel-odom.com/
If you’re old enough to remember the gay erotic magazine Blueboy, you are certainly familiar with the gorgeous, godlike illustrations of Mel Odom. Sensuous, streamline, at once untouchable, yet moltenly erotic, his art was everywhere in the mid 1970s. From Blueboy to book covers to beautiful greeting cards at hip gay shops (now tragically gone) across the country.
Well, if you happen to live in the New York City area, treat yourself to an exhibtion of his work running January 10 – February 13 at the Daniel Clooney Fine Art gallery in Chelsea. The exhibition opens on January 10 with a conversation with one of the greatest writers in American literature, Edmund White, for whose book, “Nocturnes,” Odom illustrated a cover in 1987.
To get to know Odom better, check out three excellent interviews with Mel Odom, the first by The Advocate, the second by the LGBT Conde Naste website, Into and third from Another Magazine. If you google, you’ll find many more.
Below are seveal works by Mel Odom with comments by Odom from his website, but to see more, please visit his webiste at http://www.mel-odom.com/
Close Shave1979
8-1/2″x11-1/8″
“Created for an editorial for BlueBoy magazine ‘Close Shave’ 1979”
Heart Attack
1986
5-7/8×6-1/4″
“This drawing was done for “Postgraduate Medicine” magazine to illustrate an article about men having sex after a heart attack. It was the cover and used inside. (really!)”
The title of this Mel Odom illustration is missing on the internet image, but it’s so arresting, it had to be included.
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FKIN (A)rt Friday February 1, 2019
East Village Artist Paula C’s Colonial Porn & Butterfly Pussies
For this special edition of FKIN (A)rt Friday, Erotic Intent wants you to meet East Village artist and longtime resident Paula C.
An avid gallery and museum goer, her interest in art began pretty much when she realized what art was, took her to art schools and international residencies and made her a fixture on the 80s and 90s Downtown New York art scene.
Below she generously shares her humorous, tongue-in cheek, and sweetly subversive Colonial Porn series as well as several painting from her Butterly Pussy collection and talks about art and life in the now virtually nonexistent East Village of the 80s and 90s.
The paintings are small, from about the size of a dinner plate, to about 15 – 20 inches tall.
All paintings are by Paula C. If you share, please credit Paula and the Perfect Fit Brand Erotic Intent blog.
When, why and from where did you move to New York City’s East Village?
I moved to NYC in March 1979. In 1980, I moved to the East Village, where I still live. I moved from Oyster Bay, Long Island. I moved to New York City because that’s kind of what I was taught when I went to art school in Philly. That was their main objective, to teach you that you should move to New York City and try to become a successful artist. [Laughs] Kind of a weird trip, but that’s what one of the undercurrents of our education was. I had been coming to New York since I was a kid, so I was in love with New York City ever since I was small. I started coming on school trips when we were in grade school and as a teenager I started to come into the city and hang out and then it was just inevitable that I would move to New York.
What was it like then?
The early 80s were a bit rough. Tompkins Park was a tent city. There was a lot of drug dealing around the East Village. It was tons of fun though, too. Even though the neighborhood was rough, the East Village, there were lots of openings and parties, clubs and free admission, free drinks. So, the early 80s were great. They were really fun, but there were a lot of friends getting mugged, women getting raped, there was a lot of horrible shit going on, also, in that period of time. But it was affordable. You could be an artist and run around the city and go out and get in for free and go to Studio 54 and places that were cool where we went to party.
Where did you like to go?
I think in the 80s l liked Danceteria a lot and Area and I did go to Studio 54 a few times, but you had to get somebody to take you there. They wouldn’t let in women by themselves. I had to go with a guy, like a sort of suit type guy. There also was The Tunnel, Limelight, and Palladium.
Where were the artist hanging out?
Danceteria was real art spot in a lot of ways. People gathered at art openings. Everything was in SoHo then, so it wasn’t in Chelsea or the Lower East Side. We would go to big openings by certain artists who’d gotten a name for themselves at the big galleries like Mary Boone and Leo Castelli. So everyone went and that’s where the artists met and there were often afterwards parties somewhere where you get in for free. There was a free drink hour or so if you could get lucky and get close enough to the bar and get yourself a drink.
Had you always be interested in art? A particular medium? And what drew you to art?
From an early age, I loved art. When I was 12 years old, I went to MoMA, That was the END all. A profound experience. I never forgot it.
What blew your mind at MoMA?
Guernica by Picasso. I think seeing that huge painting of the war and the horse falling and the image of it all. That and a Louise Nevelson installation. I remember those two really distinctly. I was really moved by what art could be.
When did you start making your own art? And what was the first thing that you did that made you think this is what I want to do?
Actually, I started out with an interest in sculpture. It was much later on in art school that I realized that I wanted to go for painting instead, and I switched. I wasn’t very good at painting in those days. I like working with my hands, doing more sculptural multimedia things. I was into clay, early on, in high school days. I made sculptures and things I could sell, like all handmade planters and you know like art objects.
When did you make the switch to painting and why?
I went to school in Italy, in Rome, as a junior year abroad and the teacher was Ben Shahn’s son, John, Ben Shahn was a very famous painter. He was a real traditionalist. He wanted us to all go by his rule of thumb. We had to do everything from the model, molding, figurative work. He was really way too traditional for my interests, where I was coming from. So, I just went to the painting department and said I’d like to change my major to painting. Can I do that? They gave me a bit of a talking to. Are you sure that’s what you want to do? And said ya, I do. So I sorta started late as a painter, I would say. I was in my 20s.
What kind of stuff did you start off painting? Abstract, figures…?
The early stuff is like animals and people in ovals, maybe a square canvas with animals in ovals with thick paint. I painted in oil, but I would build up underneath with acrylic and put oil on top to make it look thicker. Where you always working in a smaller size? No actually I did some really big paintings, like six foot square. Five foot by four feet. I made a really huge painting that was twelve feet tall and had sculptural attachments to it. That was after art school, though. In school there were a lot of assignments in painting.
How much longer after school did you do these American folk, sexy, humorous–what would you call it–paintings?
Well, I call it Colonial Pornography. [laughs] But I don’t’ know if that’s a good title. I’ve been questioning that as well. That’s what it was meant to be. Like what’s wrong with this picture. Taking the Puritans, the Puritanical ethic and twisting it and you don’t see it right away, because they are smaller, then you realize, oh, you know, and people usually giggle or laugh. I started doing that about 20 years ago. And why? I don’t know.
Your Colonial Pornography series, featured here, is witty and fun and reminds one of the randy satirical art of 18th century artists such as William Hogarth Thomas Rowlandson. What inspired this series?
I saw an exhibition at the Whitney Museum on America Folk art paintings of three centuries. It was a great inspiration for me. I have the book. So, I work from the book, taking images from there and if they are conducive to my erotic thought patterns [laughs], then I just twist the image a little. That was how it started.
Do you still paint?
I haven’t’ been painting. I’m trying to. I started a painting recently, but I just covered it all up because I just changed my mind. I want to work on something different. That’s where I’m at right now. Not sure what direction to go.
Were there artists or galleries that inspired you?
So many artists! I can name a few, but this is a short list. Manet, Goya, Picasso, Johns, Hockney, Stubbs, Schiele, Klimt, Munch and various America Fold Art painters, also Louis Bourgeois and early Rauschenberg.
Your “Butterfly Pussy” series reminds one of Amish hex signs. Did you have hex signs in mind when you were doing your, um, sex signs?
I have never seen Amish hex signs, but after looking up hex signs, I can see how one could see that. I went to school in Pennsylvania, so I might have seen hex signs, but nothing I remember. The “Butterfly Pussy” paintings don’t have a reference to hex signs, though. I did those three in Sweden in 2000, when I was an artist in residence in Gothenburg, in western Sweden. The “Butterfly Pussy” series was about the bright light—it didn’t get dark until 11 at night and by 2:30 or 3 in the morning the light was coming in again. There were sort of abstract, but then I put this little element of pussy in there. But basically, they were about the summer—I don’t know what they were about—but they came about because of being in a super light environment and a reflection of light. So the color is very keyed up, tones.
You are a big art fan and regularly hit the museums and show. What have been some of your favorite exhibitions, shows, artists that you’ve seen lately?
I really was in love and am going to try to get back to the Delacroix show at the Met. There are some paintings in there that will knock your socks off. The Charles White show was really good. It was on at MoMA. He’s a black American. I just saw the Jack Whitten show, which is really good sculpture at The Met Breuer. He’s another black artist. Those three shows were really, really good. I’m anxious to go see the Bruce Nauman show at MoMA and PS1. He’s an excellent artist who works in all different mediums. I really liked the Hilma af Klint show at the Guggenheim Museum.
FKIN (A)rt Friday February 8, 2019
18th Century Ottoman Art depicts Boy-Beloveds in a world before “homosexuality” was a thing
Though depctions avaiable online are rare, in the ancient or even not-so-ancient pre-Christian Muslim society of 18th century Turkey, homosexual love was no big deal.
In a fascinating article titled “What Ottoman erotica teaches us about sexual pluralism” found on Aeon.co, İrvin Cemil Schick discusses how in Turkey, as well as much of the Muslim world prior to the tyranny of Christianity, no one was freaking out over homosexual sex.
For one thing, there was no term for “homosexuality,” until 1868. Wasn’t even conceptualized as odd or negative. Same sex relationships were merely viewed in pre-modern times as merely a predilection or practice. Sexual relationships where not divided by gay or straight, but by penetrated or penetrator.
He writes:
“Although there is no doubt that the vocabulary extracted thus far is not exhaustive, some clear patterns have emerged. In particular, it indicates that one can speak of three genders and two sexualities. First, rather than a male/female dichotomy, sources clearly view men, women and boys as three distinct genders. Indeed, boys are not deemed ‘feminine’, nor are they mere substitutes for women; while they do share certain characteristics with them, such as the absence of facial hair, boys are clearly considered a separate gender. Furthermore, since they grow up to be men, gender is fluid and, in a sense, every adult man is ‘transgender’, having once been a boy.
“Second, sources suggest that there are two distinct sexualities. But rather than a hetero/homosexual dichotomy, the two sexualities are defined by penetrating and being penetrated. For a man who penetrates, whom he penetrates was considered to be of little consequence and primarily a matter of personal taste. It is indeed significant that the words used for an ‘active’ man’s sexual orientation were quite devoid of value judgment…”
Read the full article here.
We leave you with a final rare 18th century Ottoman works depicting same-sex male sex. Surely there are many more, but as we slide socially backwards, fewer and fewer are available.
Illustrated Turkish Erotic Manuscript by Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Mustafa Al-Misri
FKIN (A)rt Friday February 22, 2019
The erotic, kinky, and beautiful enema art of the mysterious “Julie Delacourt”
A fortuitous stumble down a slipperly Google path, thanks to a tip on the Twitter feed of NYC dominatix @LyraLethe, dropped us smack in the middle of a treasure trove of gourgeous, kinky, erotic art. Very FKIN (A)rt Friday!
Meet the artist “Julie Delacourt,” in quotes because it is a presumed alias, according to a post on Dangerous Minds, which may belong to Richard Hegemann—a German artist who also worked under the names A. Hegemann, A. Hegener and P. Rollmann. Hegemann. Another alias that comes up is Gaggleman.
The legend attached to these watercolors, culled from several sites, is that in the mid-50s, a wealthy art dealer in New York commissioned a designer in Berlin to paint a series of erotic works for personal use.
The anonymous German artist, known under the various pseudonyms, delivered 150 works in watercolor, co-starring next to beautifully manicured ladies, the enema. At the death of the owner, the works changed hands, but the new owner remains a mystery.
There is no source listed online, however a quick google of “Julie Delacourt,” and dozens pop up.
A bit more info and references can be found on www.VintageFetishArt.com and in this “Art of the Enema” featured on the always fascinating http://www.DangerousMinds.net.
And if you like Julie’s art, you might also like the art of Gerda Wegener: The film “The Danish Girl” is the story of her trans husband, Einar Wegener, who had the world’s first gender-reassignment surgery and became Lili Elbe.
FKIN (A)rt Friday March 8, 2019
The breathtakingly sensuous, and frankly hot, art of Octave Tassaert
Thanks to @babeland_toys posting of his breathtakingly sensuous “La Femme Damnee” (“The Cursed Woman”) meet Parisian painter, Nicolas François Octave Tassaert.
La Femme Damnee – Octave Tassaert
Some basic background expediently delivered via Wikipedia, because it’s really all about the art:
Octave Tassaert (Paris, 26 July 1800 – Paris, 24 April 1874) was a French painter of portraits and genre, religious, historical and allegorical paintings, as well as a lithographer and engraver. He was the grandson of the sculptor Jean-Pierre-Antoine Tassaert.
Unknown – Octave Tassaert
Octave’s first artistic training came from his father Jean-Joseph-François Tassaert and his older brother Paul before he was apprenticed to the engraver Alexis-François Girard. Next, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts (1817–25) from 1817 through 1825, under Guillaume Guillon-Lethière, but never won the school’s Prix de Rome.
La Femme Se Coucher – Octave Tassaert
Winning popular but not critical success, his works showing poor people’s lives were felt melodramatic by critics but acclaimed by the public. His submission to the 1855 World Exhibition was well received by the critics, but Octave ceased to exhibit after the 1857 Salon, withdrawing more and more from the formal art world.
L’Enlevement d’Europe – Octave Tassaert
Collectors of his works included Alfred Bruyas and Alexandre Dumas, fils, but in 1863 Octave stopped painting altogether and tried to become a poet (though none of his works are extant), selling all his remaining paintings to the dealer Père Martin. He declined into alcoholism, damaging his eyesight (he was treated at Montpellier in 1865, during which time he stayed with Bruyas) and finally committing suicide by inhaling coal gas[ in 1874.
Unknown – Octave Tassaert
OK, so enough history. Enjoy the art, especiailly “The Cursed Woman”–one has to agree with the Babeland Instagram comment, “She look like she doin’ fine.”!
As a bonus, two extra untitled paintings attributed to Tassaert are a bit randier than the above, but in the spirit of enthusiastic sex, voila!
The Jealous Cat – Octave Tassaert
Unknown – Octave Tassaert
Amante Premurosa – Octave Tassaert
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EROTIC INTENT BLOG
FKIN (A)rt Friday April 19, 2019
The Trashy Erotic Art of Salacious Voyeur Thomas Rowlandson
If you enjoyed previous FKIN (A)rt Friday posts featuring randy 18th and 19th century artists such as William Hogarth, Jean-Frederic Schall–often known for their political caricatures commenting on the news of the day–or our post of frisky “Colonial Porn” oil paintings by contemporary New York City painter Paula C., you’ll appreciate the work of early 1900s British artist Thomas Rowlandson.
Thomas Rowlandson, pencil sketch by George Henry Harlow, 1814
From Wikipedia/The Tate:
Thomas Rowlandson (13 July 1756 – 21 April 1827) was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation. A prolific artist, he also wrote satirical verse under the pen name of Peter Pindar. Like other contemporary pre-Victorian caricaturists like James Gillray, he too depicted characters in bawdy postures and he also produced erotica which was censured by the 1840s. His caricatures included those of people in power such as the Duchess of Devonshire, William Pitt and Napoleon Bonaparte.
Presented here are a series of illustrations by Rowlandson originally sold in a bound book printed in the mid 1810s titled “Rowlandson Erotiques.” All of his work is now in the public domain and available to purchase as fetching wall art for your boudoir, powder room, or in-laws guest room (clutch pearls) from places like Art.com.
You can see the orignal versions on the Victoria & Albert Museum’s online collections database. The versions here have been slightly tweaked to bring the color back to a casual observer’s estimation of their original brilliance. (Gave ’em a little smack on the ass to make ’em pop!)
Below in no particular order, the “Rowlandson Erotiques.”
Out Posts of a Camp
Susanna and the Elders
The Swings
Cunnyseurs
Rowlandson Erotiques
The Modern Pygmalion
The Swing
The Happy Huntsman
The Old Husband
Rowlandson Erotiques
The Dutch Serglio
The Miser
Sympathy II
Rowlandson Erotiques
Lady H________ Attitudes
Rowlandson Erotiques
Lonesome Pleasure
The Curious Parson
The Pasha
The Concert
Rowlandson Erotiques
Lord Barr–s Great Bottle Club
The Revenge
Rowlandson Erotiques
Rowlandson Erotiques
The Operation
Meditation among the Tombs
The Empress of Russia receiving her Brave Guards
A Music Master tuning his Instrument
French Dancers at a Morning Rehearsal
The Observers
The Gipsies [sic]
Rowlandson Erotiques
The Ancestor
Illustration to Jean de la Fontaine Les Lunettes
The Star Gazers
The Harem
FKIN (A)rt Friday July 19, 2019
Feast your eyes on the glamorously erotic art of Ali Franco
Artwork posted with permission of Ali Franco.
Anyone who’s followed #gayart on Instagram has surely come across the paintings of Lisbon artist Ali Franco. And surely many more already own a print or several. One fan posted, “[I] have your work in almost every room in my house!!! I’m amazed by your vision.”
Above, The Beau Belle Brothers by Ali Franco
It easy to understand why. Franco’s paintings are gorgeous, glamorous, and blazingly erotic fantasies. The men are stunning. Franco pays tribute to actor Colton Haynes and recasts some of the world’s most beautiful male models in lusciously debauched scenarios.
Above, Get on the Bit by Ali Franco
Franco’s men cavort in dreamily decadent worlds, often in historically referenced settings and attire. Regardless if its bullfighters, Roman soldiers, or bewigged and lipsticked couples enjoying a little 18th century cosplay, the sex is hot, explicit and beautifully portrayed.
Above, Your Fight is Over by Ali Franco
Ali Franco’s work is sophisticated, witty, entertaining and gloriously queer.
Above, Birth of the Belle Brothers by Ali Franco
Below are a few more favorites, but to see much more of Franco’s oeuvre visit his Instagram (censored) and Twitter (uncensored) pages. He sells his paintings print to order on canvas for as little as $50. Franco’s art is avaiable on a variety of products, from prints, to bags, thow pilows, phone covers and more on Etsy, FineArtAmerica and Society6.
Above, My Beautiful Lady by Ali Franco
Above, The Belle Brothers Summer by Ali Franco
Above, The Winner Takes it All by Ali Franco
Above, Doctor and Columbina by Ali Franco
Above, Obession by Ali Franco
Above, My Heart is Blooming by Ali Franco
FKIN (A)rt Friday October 4, 2019
Step into the surreal, erotic world of Australian painter Ross Watson
Art throughout has been posted with permission of the Ross Watson Gallery.
If you were in New York City for World PrideNYC 2019, perhaps you were lucky enough to discover the glorious, highly detailed, homoerotic art of Australian painter Ross Watson. If not, you’re in luck. Read on.
Above: The Gaze of Adonis by Ross Watson
Above: Jason, Alpine Cricket by Ross Watson
Above: Two Life Guards by Ross Watson
The single official visual arts event of WorldPrideNYC, his exhibition, “homines uniformis” and book launch for “Untitled II” at Rogue Space | Chelsea, adjacent to the High Line, was Watson’s first solo show in NYC in his 40 year career, after sold out exhibitions in Los Angles, London, Berlin, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne.
Above: Waston anticipating his WorldPrideNYC show and below. Watch the Eyewitness News ABC-7 New York inteview with Ross Watson at the Rogue Space Chelsea here.
Watson’s crystal clear, yet surreal images are at once sexy, dreamlike, and natural as layers of time, classic art, and contemporary male figures float within their frames.
Featured were gay rugby players, naked surfers, soldiers and out pop-star Alfie Arcuri in various states of dress. This series is described on the as a cross-cultural celebration of the male form, both in its uniformed and natural glory. (Arcuri’s 2017 single, ‘If They Only Knew‘, written from personal experience, explores covert same sex love and coming out.)
Above: Jason and Zorro, Venice by Ross Watson
Above: Surfer, Venice by Ross Watson
Above: Ross Watson with fans Sir Ian McKellen, Elton John, and Stephen Fry
“Having known Ross Watson for a long time, and been a collector of his art, I had the opportunity recently to visit his gallery, which reconfirmed my belief that he is a great talent. I never tire of his paintings – he is a leader in contemporary realism.” – Sir Elton John
Above: Untitled #04/10 (after Caravaggio, 1602; featuring Francois Sagat) by Ross Watson
Above: Untitled #02/10 (after Caravaggio, 1600; featuring Matthew Mitcham) by Ross Watson
Above: Dolph, Diana and Cupid (after Batoni, 1761) by Ross Watson
“Ross Watson’s paintings are obviously the work of a master of technique. The conjunction of modern naturalism and classic works makes it hard to believe one’s eyes.” – Sir Ian McKellen “Watson has created another dazzlingly provocative, witty and enchanting take on a classic painting!” – Actor, comedian and writer Stephen Fry, whom Watson has painted (link), after viewing the artwork featuring Alexis Caught, a gay UK rugby player. Alexis came to Watson’s attention after posting on Instagram about important and inspiring queer themes and mental health issues.
“The first glance at a Ross Watson painting is arresting. They’re odd, beautiful and filled with ambiguity and hot men.” – Joel Perry, Instinct Magazine, U.S.A.
Above: Beachfront by Ross Watson
Above: Viewing Deck by Ross Watson
“Ross Watson has become one of the world’s foremost painters of the male figure, creating some of the most stunning erotic art.” Gay Star News, London In describing his “Absolute Realism” collection, Watson provides a window into his process:
“Gathering exciting images which I’d seen in foreign countries helped shape this series. A bit like trying to cook food very well, I combined four or five ingredients which are interesting together, trying to get the proportions just right.
Above: Untitled by Ross Watson
An obsession with aircraft coincided with this series, and I posed the first gold-medal-winning Olympic athlete I was to paint, swimmer Grant Hackett, before a sleek fighter jet on a deserted beach.
Surrealism and artists like Rene Magritte have influenced periods of my art, including this series. I was creating paintings where you could imagine walking into the scene and thinking, ‘What a strange but fantastic scenario’”
Above: Untitled #03/11, featuring Kris Evans and Dolph Lambert by Ross Watson
Above: Ibiza Tarmac II, featuring Jamieson and Harry by Ross Watson
Paintings, limited editon prints https://www.rosswatson.com/pages/about-our-prints and coffee table books of Ross Watsons art are available at www.rosswatson.com Follow Ross Watson on Instagram @rosswatsongallery •
FKIN (A)rt Friday
January 24, 2020
The fun, frisky, frank, and sweet, art of Lisbon illustrator, Laceoni
We’re back with a fresh ‘n’ frisky installment of our semi-regular Erotic Intent art series, FKIN (A)rt Friday.
This round, it’s Lisbon digital artist, Laceoni. A commercial artist by trade, he produces his homoerotic art under the Laceoni alias, an anagram of his real name.
So, herewith meet the man behind these colorful, sexy and sweet illustrations via our little Q&A and a selection of a few of his favorite pieces.
How long have you been making your erotic art?
I started working with erotic art as a side project under the name of Laceoni back in 2012, but I’ve been exploring the subject since well before then mostly as comics and anime fan-art, back in my high school and university years.
Though one of my first erotic drawings was when I was only 14 years old and the funny thing is that they could have been part of my coming out story, as my brothers discovered these images but I explained them as being “just a phase” and imitation of someone’s elses drawings.
I had always been a bit shy about it and struggled with some difficulty in showing artwork of this nature to friends and family, or posting them online, so it was why I decided to create the alias name “Laceoni” and a blog on Tumblr, under which I could create erotic art without any restraint or restrictions.
Did you go to school for art, self-taught?
I attended school and studied fine arts for several years, so part of my knowledge of the arts come from school. But with digital arts I am self-taught using tutorials on internet and tips from fellow colleagues as learning material.
Is art what you do for a living?
Yes, I work as a freelance illustrator. The erotic art projects could be considered one of my hobbies, as so far, I have not had very many clients and briefings regarding this way of expression previously. However, I am now seeing an increase of interest and request for this work.
What’s your medium? Paint on paper or canvas?
For the Laceoni works, I work them entirely on a computer with a Wacom graphics tablet using a very light and easy software called Paint Tool Sai.
What’s your process, from before start to finished painting?
First, I make a collage from different photos and porn screenshots that I usually collect, on top of which I’m sketching the general directions and details of the artwork. Then I trace onto these sketches, the final drawing and coloring.
What size are the original paintings?
I am working digitally so I am a bit limited by the screen. However, I imagine printing them to larger formats, and as I have them online for sale on websites like Redbubble, the larger files are usually best and currently most of them are offered at around 16 x 20 inches in full size. I will work on updating this in the near future so that they will be available in much larger formats/sizes.
Do you work from live models or photos or imagination?
As said earlier, I work from photos that I collect on my computer and my phone, gathering every image that excites me or that I find interesting, though lately I’ve been working mostly with print screens from porn and other videos online. I want the final image to resemble the photos that I use as little as possible so that I don’t feel like I’m abusing someone else’s work.
Your art is fun, frisky, and frank, but also sweet, thanks to your technique and color palette. A healthy portrayal of happy horndogs. What’s your message?
Well I concentrate mostly on gay sex positivity and the male body. I want to show sex through a different lens than that of which standard porn is presenting it and illustrate details such as mutual pleasure, the facial expressions during sex, the tenderness, the fun, the roughness, the pleasure of masturbating, etc., I want to show all of this in a “non-dirty“ manner.
When I received a message from a straight guy saying, “I am not gay but I really love your artworks,” I thought that maybe, in a small way, I have succeeded in promoting this positivity.
The same applies to all of my straight friends that are loving these works and were actually a bit insulted or offended that I hadn’t told them about it and shared my artwork with them earlier on.
What or who inspires you and your art?
My art is mostly inspired by my own desires, fantasies, and experiences. Though as a young gay artist, Tom of Finland was a great influence for me. I was always awed by his world and imagery, and getting to see his work in all sorts of art books served as a great means of motivation in my start to the exploration of creating gay erotic art.
You recently did a cover for gay pin-up zine, Meatzine. Are you a gay zine fan? Others that you like or care to recommend?
I like everything that is gay erotic art related, and zines are included in this. The cover I did for Meatzine was because I am a fan of the zine, and I had seen on their Instagram account that their images are being pulled off, or censored, because of the nudity. This one cover that I loved and had found nothing wrong with concerning the community guidelines was being removed from their profile, so I thought to reinterpret it and send it to them as Instagram is more lenient and indulgent on the topic of nudity when it comes to illustrations and drawings. The artwork is currently still posted on Instagram.
Unfortunately I don’t know too many gay zines, though I would love to discover more. The few other gay zines I know of are “Doable Guys” that I had participated in, and “BogossBook.”
You mention on your Instagram that you do commissions. Have there been any that have been particularly interesting or favorites?
Well I like all of the commissions I’ve done so far. Though I may tend to represent just certain types of men, when it comes to commissions, I feel more than happy to draw anyone. Having received some request to draw girls/women, transgender people, and/or some family portraits, I am open to these possibilities and welcome them.
Your art is available for purchase on Redbubble, on which you have nearly 400 (!) designs available in various formats. How’s that been working for you? What are your biggest sellers? T-shirts, prints, shower curtains?
So far, it has worked “OK.” The shop on Redbubble has it’s up and down periods and is a growing source for a passive income. Though the biggest sellers for me are the art prints and the post cards. This past Christmas, the majority of the products sold where postcards.
More Laceoni on Instagram @laceoni_of_art Contact him for private commissions via Instagram. Over 400 works are available for purchase on Redbubble.com •
FKIN (A)rt Friday
February 21, 2020
For this edition of FKIN (A)rt Friday, meet New York City photographer Jason Jackson. He’s given us a very generous interview about his work, specifically, his erotic, sensual, and intimate ongoing series, “THE EROTIESE PROJECT.”
On his website https://erotiese.co, Jason describes “THE EROTIESE PROJECT” as “a photographic journey that focuses on capturing the male form in unique and authentic ways that both reinforce and challenge our ideas of masculinity. My intention when shooting the male form has always been to create an emotionally driven narrative. It’s not always about looking for a “naked body”. My intent is to find that balance between product, process and relationship while simultaneously making the viewer think about the changing societal construct of masculinity.”
What made you pick up the camera?
Interestingly enough I hated the camera as a child. My mom was always taking pictures and I found it annoying. It interrupted my play time. As I approached my 20’s and I started to explore more of the world I found that I wanted to capture the things I saw. It never occurred to me to do it professionally or with a broader intent until later. I think the desire to pick up the camera with more specific intent and artistry these last 5 years was a combination of maturity and my understanding of the significance of what I saw in the world and how I interpreted it.
For the purposes of consumer consumption I separate my work into 2 categories. The one that has gained more social media attention is THE EROTIESE PROJECT which focuses on capturing the male form in unique and authentic ways that both reinforce and challenge our ideas of masculinity.
My intention when shooting the male form has always been to create an emotionally driven narrative. It’s not always about looking for a “naked body”, but admittedly the nudity is sometimes part of the message.
Your subjects include an admirable variety of men. It’s quite a candy box. How do you find or select your models?
Yes, it’s a smorgasbord. That “model” word has so many negative connotations. Whether it’s a commissioned job or a man I see and intentionally want to include in my projects I see them as subjects more than models. A lot of the men contact me on Instagram or through my website or reach out because of work I have done with someone they personally know.
Looking at just a fistful of your Instagram photos of Scotty Don’t @flyingmonkeycirque, Eli @eliboridomi, Michael Wright @mikestouch, Damian Dragon @damianxdragon and couple Thomas and Jefferson one is struck by the honest masculinity exuded in all the images. You’ve thankfully–and one suspects, very consciously–swerved opposite of the boring gym bro, body worship cliché. Clearly, that approach never appealed to you in the first place I
My selection is somewhat intentional. I am very conscious of making sure that all men are represented. They can be smooth or hairy, bearded or baby-faced. Everyone loves the fit and muscular man, the “gym bro.” It’s visual fantasy. We all perpetuate that and I love to shoot them, but I also find the man with flaws and quirks so interesting. I love to shoot men that are not the editorial standard of beauty. They come to the table with so much depth and are so much more open to being vulnerable and willing to push beyond their comfort zone. Come to me with some extra weight on your frame, or scars, or a not so perfect ass. That’s the real world.
I also make a deliberate decision to include men of color in my work. I LOVE MELANIN! Black, Latino, Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern. Those colors and shades put a whole other level of variety and experience and expression in front of my camera. I try to steer away from sites that have no representation of men with darker brown skin. In this day and age with the level of accessibility to images and media if there are no brown people on your page or site, I have to believe its intentional. Interestingly enough when starting out I found it harder to find men of color who were comfortable with expressing themselves in this type of medium. I think a lot of that has to do with cultural norms and ideas about male expression/exposure, but that could be a whole other topic.
You manage to pull this sensuality out of so many different men and what they are giving doesn’t come spontaneously moments after walking into a cold studio or location. One has to ask: What’s your secret? How do you get your men to, open up, so to speak?
I hope the men in all of my images appear approachable or relatable. I always want them to have a pleasant experience when they work with me so I try to make sure they have a say in the process and what I shoot. Some of the images I shoot are very explicit, so I make a point to talk to all of my subjects about respecting them and the art we create. This includes contracts and privacy rights and their own personal limits regarding body exposure.
When they tell me about the insecurities with their bodies, or about their history of depression or their battle with cancer, that brings value and meaning to the shoot. I want that out there on the table. It’s real. I don’t want us to spend all our time together talking about protein powder and bicep curls.
That connection when we talk or meet before the shoot translates to respect and trust. I like to think that allows for a more meaningful experience for them. I couldn’t get that same connection and willingness to be vulnerable and real if they just walked into the studio and we said hello and then two minutes later I asked them to spread their legs so I can get a shot of their pubic hair spilling out of their jockstraps ( I think I just got lost in a visual fantasy for a second. Let me bring myself back. LOL). I never want a subject to just stand and pose. Let’s have fun, create a fantasy or expose the real you. Who do you want to be? What do you want the world to see? I love helping them with that process and guiding and encouraging in any way possible.
Though smolderingly sensual, the men also appear approachable, which, of course, makes them all that more appealing. Some of the most powerful photos are those of men kissing.
When I shoot couples, I love the interaction. I want to capture their natural chemistry. I will often tell them to pretend I am not there and have a little make out session. I leave it up to them to decide how far to take it. I don’t do porn but I let them naturally engage with each other as if I wasn’t there. A staged kiss doesn’t always work, so I encourage them to let go. My job is to capture that with my camera. I’ve met some amazing couples, some are still together and some aren’t but the palpable connection they had or still have is undeniable when captured in camera.
From your Street Life series, there were several: the bus stop image with perfectly caught reflection, the man touching the store mannequin and I loved the leatherman/unicorn – little girl’s smile. The black and white photos are very graphic, while your color photos feel like paintings. This Cuban photo feels like Dutch master in the way light and color are captured. (There may be other more apt references for paintings similar to the photo, but I’m a Dutch master fan, so it’s what comes to mind.)
Yes, the other part of my work is the Street/Trav
el/Environmental Portraiture. For that I use my full name-Jason Jackson. The audience is different. It’s definitely more of a Fine Art genre and consumer. I had a great experience in London in 2019 where I exhibited my work at Artrooms London. It was nerve wracking at first, being my first big exhibition, but it really helped me hone that part of my skills, the preparation and the strategies and the networking. Some of my work sold which is what every artist wants and I had a great team helping me to figure it all out.
My boyfriend was unbelievably supportive as well as my mentor Leonides Molinar and fellow artist Ricardo Francis at Leonidesarts who helped me with curating and navigating the ins and outs of my first big exhibition.
I am a loyal Sony Alpha user with all of my work. My current workhorse is the Sony A7r3. They have an amazing community of photographers and they really promote a sense of community instead of competition amongst their consumers. When doing my Street and Travel work, I often shoot in black and white to avoid distraction and my own personal bias toward color preferences. This allows me to focus solely on composition and the moment with less influence. It’s all digital so I can switch back and forth to color and black and white if I need to later. My final choice really depends on the mood I catch on camera and my own instinctive feeling or connection to that moment.
What is it you are looking for and what is it you want those viewing your photographs to feel? (Perhaps it’s one and the same.) What is you hope comes across?
For all of my work the goal is the same: I want to make the viewer feel something, to relate to what they see. It can be as simple as primal lust or joy, or as complex as the need for self-reflection and remembrance. Beyond the technical aspect like tone and color and composition I want them to have a sense of empathy and connectedness to the work. If they feel that, then I’ve achieved my goal with my art.
Are there artists or photographer who’ve influenced your look or technique?
My Influences? I think i would call them my inspirations just as much as influences. Gordon Parks, Irving Penn, Vivian Maier, and Roy DeCarava to name a few.
My street and travel work is so dear to my heart. The intent and emotion you spontaneously capture when shooting in the street has made me a better observer and helps me in the more structured work when I am shooting men for THE EROTIESE PROJECT. It’s how I started out with photography and I will always recognize and honor that as the foundation for all of my work. It really shapes how I construct a visual narrative.
When you show your photos, how large are the photos that are printed and displayed?
I am very selective about the materials used for printing. I want my work to last so I intentionally print on archival paper and only offer limited editions. It’s more expensive but worth the investment for the buyer. Some images I will also have printed and mounted on metal. In my own perfect world everything would be 20×30 inches for bigger, LOL. I rarely printer smaller than 16×24 for a client. My work shows better on a larger scale.
Every image on my website or Instagram is potentially for sale so anyone interested should definitely reach out to me. Clients have varied tastes so if they see something that interests them, I try to curate a specific collection of images for them to choose from, some of which are not actually on my website or on Instagram.
How do you approach your street photography? Do you always carry a camera? Sit and watch, wait? Or plan? Or a combination of both and luck?
My Street/Travel work is often most compelling to me when I capture that raw fleeting moment. I want that moment frozen, it could be about an emotion-anger, fear, confusion, joy. I will sit in a single spot sometimes and watch the world unfold in front of me. Other times I am pushing through a crowd and shooting on the fly. It really depends on my mood and location sometimes. My camera is on me about 75-80% of the time. Those spontaneous street moments are priceless.
What is it you hope your THE EROTIESE PROJECT images say general? About masculinity? About being gay?
I really hope the images from THE EROTIESE PROJECT challenges our ideas of how the construct of masculinity is portrayed. Gay, straight or otherwise, I want men to be comfortable with expressing their own version of what it means to be a man. I would love some straight men to come forward to challenge that as well. Ownership of our own personal biases is important. That also holds true to me. I am acutely aware that I have no trans representation in my work and that needs to change.
Do you take commissions?
Yes, I definitely do commissioned work. I rely on a group of men that I already worked with to do most of the non-commissioned work, but I definitely do commissioned work for both THE EROTIESE PROJECT as well as my street and travel work. Sometimes its erotic imagery people want and sometimes its environmental portraits. It depends on what the client/subject wants.
To purchase or inquire about commissioned work, contact Jason via THE EROTIESE PROJECT Instagram page or website.
Jason’s work was recently featured in the annual multi-disciplinary LGBTQ event “EVERYBOOTY” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2018. Jason was also chosen to be a part of select group of artists to participate in ARTROOMS LONDON (2019), an international art exhibition and innovative art fair supporting independent artists from all over the world. His work is now in private collections both in the US and internationally.
Visit THE EROTIESE PROJECT website at www.erotiese.co or follow it on Instagram @erotiese. You can also find more of Jason’s work at https://jasonjacksonimages.com •
FKIN (A)rt Friday
May 1, 2020
Meet the Divine, Dominant Divas of Namio Harukawa
Note: All images are by Namio Harukawa and posted as a tribute. If you own these images and wish us to remove them, please contact me at andy@popularpublicity.com
Thanks to a post on the Instagram for “The International Journal of Desire and Curiosity,” Phile Magazine, Erotic Intent’s FKIN (A)rt Friday is delighted to introduce you to the art, women and “femdom,” of recently deceased erotic artist, Namio Harukawa.
Famous for illustrations of buxom, bodacious, yet blasé women dominating diminutive men, Harukawa’s images are playful, powerful, and eye-popping.
From Wikipedia:
“Namio Harukawa (1947 – April 24, 2020) was a pseudonymous Japanese fetish artist best known for his works depicting female domination (“femdom”), with erotic asphyxiation a frequent subject of his art. Harukawa was born in 1947 in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. As a high school student he contributed artwork to Kitan Club, a post-war pulp magazine that published sadomasochistic artwork and prose.
He developed a career as a fetish artist in the 1960s and 1970s, taking the pen name “Namio Harukawa”: formed from an anagram of “Naomi”, a reference to Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s novel of the same name, and actress Masumi Harukawa. Though he worked in pornographic magazines for the majority of his career, his work received wider recognition and critical acclaim beginning in the 2000s.
His artwork typically features women with large breasts, hips, legs, and buttocks dominating and humiliating smaller men, typically through facesitting or other forms of sexualized smothering. Bondage and human furniture are depicted frequently in his art.”
His fans are apparently legion and include Madonna, who, on his death, posted “Knowledge is Power. This is Art! By Harukama Namio Japanese illustrator. One of my favorites.” (She had to cuss out fans who made idiotic comments equating a love of erotic art to being a bad parent, and later deleted the post.)
Recent articles remembering Harukawa and his art appeared on a number of art and culture sites, including Dazed, High Snobriety, Cracked, and Juxtapoz. Check them out for many more examples of his art.
There is also a virtual archive on Instagram at @artworkbynamio. •
Popular Publicity 