Malegraph   

Phallic Aversion Project

As artists, we are often too constrained by the commercial aspects of our work, and as long as we accept those constraints and act within them, we inadvertently ally ourselves with the corporate internet’s codes of conduct, reinforce the new social norms around nudity, and build our own barriers to open and thoughtful visual conversation.  This project is a deliberate distancing from socailly acceptable norms of male nudity, it explores the entire male form, phallus and all.

The models are the male stars of instagram, daily posting selfies from the gym, shirts off, abs gleaming.  I contact them and get agreement to be in a painting and photograph them in person, or where distance is an issue, coach them through a selfie.  Rarely naked, I delete their clothing and recreate their boastful yet timid poses as nudes.  The result is a painting that displays them stripped of their societal norms, proudly naked.