Takashi Murakami and his lonesome cowboy

This lonesome cowboy, a geant nude male sculpture of Murakami was certainly a surprise in the Tokyo art gallery where it was displayed, and certainly attracted most of the attention.

Created in 1998, it represents a young man and his sperm in a lasso shape around his body, in a style that we would compare to manga cartoons and pop culture, or also what is now called in Japan as the Otaku culture.

It was made in resin, with oil and acrylic paints, and measures 3 meters high. In addition to Japan, it was also exhibited in London and Los Angeles.

Murakami does not expressively shows gay scenes in his work, but sometimes he creates a homoerotic theme. Like this 'CowBoy' proud to show his sperm or masturbation act. A critic mentioned that it was possibly to show the macho spirit in America, the masculinity, the bond among men.

Takashi Murakami is born in Tokyo in 1962. Wanted to create cartoons. Had a father taxi driver. He succeeded to enter at the Arts University. He founded his own workshop at age 33. Then worked for Louis Vuitton in 2004, creating new colored designs with the famous logo. Had a famous although controversed exhibition in Versailles Palais des Glaces in 2010.

Below are two links for short videos about Murakami. The first one is about the Otaku culture, the next one is at the Brooklyn Museum.of Art, where the 2nd retrospective about the artist took place, after the one in Los Angeles

Murakami and the Otaku Culture
Murakami at the Brooklyn Museum of Art

Sources
My-lonesome-cowboy description
Archive Metropolis
Wikipedia Takashi_Murakami

Your Daily Male 2019 calendar : selection of male sculptures

The Groningen-based Galerie Mooiman, specialized in male art, and already mentioned in this blog (see here), just released his Daily Male 2019 calendar filled with artworks from 52 artists, and this time with 7 sculptors among them. All these artists concentrate their work on the male (nude) beauty and body. I am honored to be part of this group.

This Dutch art gallery is among the very few in Europe specializing in gay artists, editing books about some of these artists, organizing unique exhibitions (like the current one about the Diego Tolomelli stained-glass & playing cards project), and promoting gay male art in general.

Here are some works of 6 of these sculptors : Ivo Blanck, Dennis Coenraad, Antoine Timmermans, OK van Botenburg, Marcel Julius Joosen and Keith King.

Ivo Blanck

Dennis Coenraad

Antoine Timmermans

OK van Batenburg

Marcel Julius Joosen

Keith King

Sources

Galerie Mooi-Man Male art gallery
The Advocate magazine : 54 samples of the calendar
Diego Tolomelli erotic stained glass
Gay-Sculptures by Jean-Christophe 

Male sculptures in Brussels (2)

Today you will discover another selection of some male sculptures seen in Brussels these days, either outside in parks, botanical garden, streets and places, or inside the Royal Palace.

First, the Botanical Gardens, where 52 sculptures were commissioned when it was created in 1826. Two majors sculptors, Constantin Meunier and Charles van der Stappen, leaded the overall design, with the help of numerous Belgian sculptors, around the theme of vegetals, but also animals, and working people.   Here is the 'Laurier' (Laurel) made by Julien Dillens.

On the square 'Vergote' where several Art Deco houses are present, there is this monument sculpted by Charles Samuel, called the 'Monument au Génie', in memory of the last wars (1914-1918 and 1940-1945).

The "Palais des Académies" which today is the Royal Academy of Sciences, helds several sculptures around his classical building, which at the beginning used to be the house of the Prince of Orange, a few years before the creation of the Belgian nation.

The next door Royal Palace has a beautiful, although anonymous, marble sculpture of a Bacchus in the main entrance hall.

In the Cinquantenaire park, where the Art & History Museum is located, there is the 'Pavillion Horta' built specifically to protect the extremely large and imposing 'bas-relief' sculpture made by Jeff Lambeaux, called 'The Human Passions'.

Another Art Nouveau 'bas-relief' is visible on the Town Hall, offered in 1899 by a group of artists to thank Charles Buls, Brussels mayor (Bourgmestre) during almost 20 years, from 1881 to 1899, who actively supported the arts in Brussels and ensured many historical places were kept and maintained.
Designed by the architect Victor Horta, and the sculptor Victor Rousseau, it represents a nude young man holding an oil lamp, you can see also other interesting details.

Sources
Human Passions
Botanical Gardens

The beautiful males of Ian Rank-Broadley

Ian Rank-Broadley, born in Surrey (England) in 1952, is one of the few successful living sculptors who predominantly sculpts the male figure, and the male nude. Being monumental groups, portraits, small medals, reliefs or attractive life size bodies, he masters the anatomy & the movement, giving you the real envy to touch them.

As he declares himself in his website : "'The choice of the male figure / nude as a dominant motif was made quite early when I realised that the female nude had, to a large extent, been robbed of its power by the commercial world of advertising, whereas the male nude still retained a power that could excite, grab attention and shock. The reaction of the spectator to the male figure was stronger, whether out of competition, fear or embarrassment. It proved to be a potent image. For me, the sculptor, this fact reinforced the work with a greater resonance and meaning.''
 

Many of Ian Rank-Broadley sculptures have a classical influence, like his Heroic Torso and fragments etc. The towel on the work above gives somewhat a more contemporary look, which I like a lot as well.

Below is his large sculpture in bronze 'Towards Another'  life size.

Towards Another - Bronze

Towards Another - Bronze

And here some of his reliefs (you can read the inspiration of these on the sculptor's website).

Berlin Boy 1

Berlin Boy 2

A private collection holds this Heroic Male Torso. More details about the lizzard in his website!

Other versions.

One of Ian Rank-Broadley major projects is the Armed Forces Memorial, at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire. Mythology (with Achilles & Patrocle) and symbolic (sun rays) play a role in these two groups of sculptures 'The Stretchers Bearers' and 'The Gates'. See the full story, more pictures and description in the link at the end of this post under 'Sources'.

The Stretchers - detail

The Sculptor - detail

Photo from les.shutterchance.com

The Gates - detail

I encourage you to visit his website to get a full idea of his talent and discover his other sculptures, like the acrobat, the swimmer, and his numerous portraits and medals (see also his coin with the effigy of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, and the medal 'Prisoner of Conscience').

Sources
Ian Rank-Broadley website 
Armed Forces Memorial 
Les Shutterchance