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“HOLY HOMO COMICS, DUDE!!!”
Antebellum is proud to present
TOONFETISH!, an exhibition of Gay erotic comic & illustrated art.
“KABOOM!!” Over the past 25 years, the medium of illustrative
storytelling has exploded far beyond the realm of “disposable
kiddie entertainment”. Whether mainstream or alternative, comics are
now a respected art form that features an endless array of
illustration styles and diverse subject matter including adult
fantasy, erotic & fetish themes.
“THANKS, DADDY!” 40 years after pioneer Tom of Finland blazed the
trail with his “dirty drawings”, a whole new generation of artists
carry gay erotic illustration into the new millennium. These artists
who could, and in many cases do, work in the mainstream, have chosen
to use their formidable talents to create images and stories that
express themselves erotically. Unabashed, unapologetic and
definitely “UN-PC”, they're putting their imaginations on paper
for all to enjoy. From single image pinups, to fantasy and science
fiction adventures to everyday erotic tales.
“2D FANTASY FUEL!” Gay erotic comics not only reflect existing
fetishes and types in real life, but now influence and add to the
gallery of arousing archetypes. Sexy Manga Boys, Nasty Skatepunks,
Slutty Spacestuds, Superhung Superheroes and “curiously hot”
Otherworldly Creatures have seeped into the fantasies of many a comic
reader. “Toons” have now become a fetish unto themselves.
“THIS IS A JOB FOR… ”As creator of “G-MAN” and “CHELSEA
BOYS” books, internationally renown artist Glen Hanson leads the
pack in this field. Together with legendary fetish and fashion
photographer Rick Castro, they have put together TOONFETISH!, a
show
that will feature some of the hottest artists working in this field
today including-
Drubskin, from San Diego, CA, Dronio, from Bologna, Italy,
Justin
Hall, from San Francisco, CA, Zart from Athens, Greece, Savieri,
from
Melbourne, Australia, Patrick Fillion from Vancouver, Canada and many
more!
“SPURT!!” TOONFETISH! explodes in Hollywood at the ANTEBELLUM
GALLERY opening nite reception- June 8th! the exhibit runs through
July, 13th, 2007 with kickass drawing salons and events throughout
the show's run lead by the artists themselves!
co-currated by Rick Castro & Glen Hanson
for further information, please contact-
Rick Castro
Antebellum Gallery
1643 N Las Palmas Ave
Hollywood, Ca 90028
323 856-0667
general hours-
wednesday thru Saturday
1-7pm
antebellum@earthlink.net
www.antebellum.us.ms
TOONFETISH!
featured artists
Glen Hanson, Drubskin, Savieri, Justin Hall, Zart, Dronio
Patrick Fillion and many more!
opening nite- June 8th, 7pm!
exhibit runs through July, 13th
special salon events to be annouced throughout the duration of the
exhibit, including :
* june 9th- Hidden history of the Superhero- lecture by Justin Hall!
* june 16th- Glen Hanson’s naked drawing salon!
* june 23rd- zine & comix convention!
* june 30th- Drubskin’s RomperStomper SkinHead party!
* july 13th- erotic animation film night- closing party!
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artist bios
Glen Hanson
a native of Toronto, He currently
lives in Los Angeles. where he
works on a variety of illustration, animation, design, writing and
art direction.
Hanson has designed characters for animated shows Beetlejuice, Daria,
Spy Groove and for Disney tv and SoapNet network. Hanson’s
illustrations have appeared in a variety of publications including
Entertainment Weekly, L'Uomo Vogue, Variety, The New York Times, FHM
and Maxim, the cover of BLINK 182's. Hason has such diversw clients
as “The Enema Strikes Back” CD, packaging for BOD Body Spray, t-
shirts and ads for designer Andrew Mackenzie and campaigns for
Sunsilk shampoo.
For 8 years Hanson co-wrote and illustrated the syndicated Chelsea
Boys comic strip, most recently compiled in the hardcover book,
“Chelsea Boys Steppin' Out!”. Hanson also co-wrote Wonder Woman
VS. The Red Menace for DC COMICS as part of their Realworlds series.
Glen's erotic male illustrations have appeared on everything from
greeting cards, t-shirts, party plates and publications like
Unzipped, Torso and Blue.
In 2004 the first collection of these images was published in the
book G-MAN . Hanson was cover artist and contributor to STRIPPED, the
illustrated male both published by Bruno Gmunder.
by Glen Hanson
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DRUBSKIN
lives in San Diego, CA.
drubslkin creates proto-pornography for the punk and skateboard
generation: Drub's images of a new queer archetype with a subversive
comic book style are colorful manifestos of youthful lust. Mixing
traditional fine art techniques with today's technology, Drub's
artwork perverts the mind and the medium. Drub's distinctive images
have previously been featured in Blue, Freshmen, Gay-News Amsterdam,
Instigator Magazine and exhibited in Amsterdam, Berlin, Toronto, and
many cities in the U.S of A.
by Drubskin
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ZART
Born in Greece in 1976 and grew up in a
small seaside town.
Since he can remember, Zart has been drawing on every blank space of
his school books. Men, women, ambiguous creatures, clothes, gestures,
expressions....
In 1996 Zart entered the Accademy of Fine Arts of Rome , Italy where
he studied for two years.then dropped out as his tuttors were telling
him,“you’re not a painter, but a graphic artist...(!)” Zart then
moved to London where he got accepted at Saint Martins College of Art
and Design. Zart completed a BA hons course in Graphic Design with
specialisation in Illustration, Then spent 2 years working for
various Design Studios, but military duty in Greece was impossible to
avoid....So Zart returned to Greece in 2003, worked for OZON magazine
for 6 months and then spent a year and a half of his life training in
the Greek Air Force (a real opportunity to explore the human
behaviour, especially the disturbed one).
In 2004 Zart got hired from CREAM advertising company, where he works
as a Senior Art Director.
Zart has never abbandoned his love for drawing and throughout the
years his style has developed into a mixture of spontaneous scetches
and his experience in Design.
Currently Zart is working on a series of drawings entitled:
“Documentations of Complicated Lives”.
by Zart
***************************************************************
JUSTIN HALL
lives in San Francisco.
Justin loves comic books, travel, and sex, and has managed to indulge
all three of these passions in his life. Hall is an award-winning
cartoonist best known for True Travel Tales, his comic book series of
true-life adventures from the road. His work has been featured in
numerous other publications, such as the Houghton Milfin Best
American Comics, the S.F. Bay Guardian, Boy Trouble, and more. Hall
also occasionally acts in porn films, and some of his experiences in
the industry have wound up in the pages of Hard To Swallow, a gay
porn comic co-created by Dave Davenport.
by Justin Hall
***************************************************************
SAVIERI
is an artist and writer living in
Melbourne, Australia.
Savieri grew up in a little backwater town where
his nightmares flourished in a cultural desert. At 17
Savieri plucked them from the barren soil and hoisted his
demons towards his dreams. Salieri has since lived and
worked in Sydney, Paris and New York, but still calls Melbourne his
home.
Savieri is influenced by the many things he never planned on
becoming, Savieri has made dubious use of his ample
talents... Or is it the other way around?
by Savieri
***************************************************************
DRONIO, (Jacopo Camagni )
was born in Bologna, Italy, on December 21, 1977.
After studying classical art, graphic design and photography at Liceo
Artistico F. Arcangeli, Dronio began his career in 1998 with the gay
comic series "Take Away" and the strip "Le Amiche Giuste" (exhibited
in the Triennale of Milano) published by Kappa Edizioni. Dronio’s
boldly inked and energetically colored illustrations have been used
for advertising around the world, in magazines, on covers for video
games, and even in a book for the Opera House of Rome.
In 2005, Dronio developed his "True" series, a lush collection of
illustrations that reinterpreted some of the most famous characters
from fairy tales, fantasy literature as well as contemporary real
life, with his own sexy and slightly alternative homoerotic point of
view.
Dronio and his boyfriend, writer/designer Marco Felicioni, co-created
and published the first volume of "Magna Veritas", a graphic novel
series for Soleil Edition of Toulon, France in 2006. The 2nd issue
of "Magna Veritas" is due out later this year.
Currently, Dronio is working on a variety of projects including
illustrations for “Graveside”, a "dark toned" mini-series for
Image Comics.
by Dronio
***************************************************************
PATRICK FILLION
lives in Vancouver, Canada.
Patrick has been an artist since birth, preferring pencil and paper
to most other toys as a child, he would draw for hours on end. As an
adult, Patrick's love of art and comics in particular is stronger
than ever.
Recently Unzipped magazine stated, "It's not hard to see why
Fillion's comics have caught on so well in the gay community. From
the lasciviously sketched studs in tights to the intensely graphic
depiction of sexual intercourse, Fillion's books are like X-Rated
versions of the superhero books he and many of us grew up idolizing."
Putting as much care and love into developing the characters and the
stories as he does into drawing them, Patrick redefines how we look
at adult comics. Produced with the highest standards possible, each
comic book is created with absolute devotion to quality and attention
to detail.
A leader in the field, Patrick's art continues to inspire and
impress. His men are exquisite and memorable. His comics are bold
and cutting edge. One thing is certain. Patrick is an artist of
great influence and like Tom of Finland before him, his amazing
artwork will continue to pave the way for other artists.
Patrick has created 3 art books, Heroes, Hot Chocolate and Mighty
Males, all of which have been published with great success by Bruno
Gmunder. When Patrick is not busy writing, drawing and publishing
comics, he is hard at work illustrating for several well known gay
publications, such as Black Inches, Latin Inches, Torso, Inches and
recently Freshmen magazines.
Today, Patrick and his life and business partner, Fraz have created
their own independent publishing company called Class Comics.
Through this company, they produce and print several Gay Erotic theme
comics such as Naked Justice, Camili-Cat (whom Patrick created 20
years ago, at the age of 12), Satisfaction Guaranteed, Guardians of
the Cube, Deimos, and the anthology series called Rapture.
In 2007, a fourth art book entitled Bliss: The Art of Patrick Fillion
will be released by the German Publishers. This fourth book, a more
personal look at Patrick's work, promises to be his most exciting so
far, with nearly 100 pages of his signature studs bursting to life
for our viewing pleasures.
by Patrick Fillion
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Curator
RICK CASTRO is an independent filmmaker and photographer living and
working in Los Angeles his entire life.
Castro’s explores the world of fetish and fringes of culture. His
work has been published in artist editions, exhibitions and
institutions worldwide. Rick co-directed and wrote the cult film
Hustler White , (1996) and the documentary Plushies & Furries, (2001)
for MTV.
Castro’s photography is in the permanent collections of The Alfred
Kinsey Institute and The Tom of Finland Foundation. His books and
zines are archived at the UCLA library, and The Leather Museum in
Chicago. Castro has photographed portraits of the Dalai Lama,
(sipping tea) Gore Vidal, Peter Berlin, Alan Poul (producer-Six Feet
Under & Tales of the City) and his longtime muse, Tony Ward.
Castro owns and runs ANTEBELLUM GALLERY.
(see www.rickcastro.com for more information.)
about the gallery
Antebellum Gallery is Located at 1643 North Las Palmas Avenue, in the
heart of downtown Hollywood. The term antebellum is latin for,
“before war” and while it commonly refers to a more romantic Gone
With the Wind era, we find ourselves again today with American
culture at odds with political/religious/social agendas that threaten
to blow the lid off its foundations at any given moment.
Steeped in Victorian nuances with a salon style, Antebellum is a
casual space for art and engaging conversation. Antebellum Gallery is
intended as a hybrid of artistic, cultural, and political iconoclasm.
For more information please contact Rick Castro (by email:
antebellum@earthlink.net / phone: 323 856 0667.
www.antebellum.us.ms
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quotes
4pm- visit Antebellum Gallery. the only fetish art gallery in america!-
-Maura Egan- New York Times Magazine
Antebellum Gallery claims to be, “the only fetish art gallery in
America”. with exhibits like The Bondage Show and Evening with a
Ropemaster, we’re not going to argue.
-Leslee Komaiko- Los Angeles Magazine
In a photo that hangs on the wall of Rick Castro’s feitsh-art
gallery, Antebellum, a fist is deeply emdedded in an ass“. From the
fister’s still-visble wrist dangles a silver chain, echoing the
thought bouncing through my own head, Castro chuckles, “wouldn’t
that make the best jewlery ad?”
- Ernest Hardy- LA weekly
“The Modern Heretics exhibit at Antebellum Gallery projects and
intense, sometimes whimsical, otherworldly erotisism.”
- Dan Cullinae- Frontiers Magazine
“The Bondage Show” is an exhibit billed as photography by “three
generations of bondage masters.” Not your usual fare, this trio
spans the range from tortured rough trade to guilded deity. The live
events around the show are significant, opening last week with a
performative lecture by the seminal Modern Primitive movement
founder, Fakir Musafar, continuing with neo-Victorian Rick Castro’s
Fetish Tea Party. and newcomer Domasan who practices shibari,
(japanese style knots)”
- Ron Athey- LA Weekly
On a recent rainy Friday afternoon, Castro served orange pekoe tea,
and cookies as he discussed the differences between porn and erotica,
defined fetish, bemoaned the culture war and praised his muse — and
queer icon — Tony Ward.” -
- Ernest Hardy- LA Weekly
BLACKS exhibt is the black spirit of the erotismo. An extension
explores the world of fetish with all the sexiness, the esotismo, the
irony and the power of the bodies and the minds black. To Hollywood
it arrives “blacks”. You will understand because to say goodbye to
the white ones.
-Babillonia, Italy |
