Shower Klatch

I was beginning to put down the base coat of color on this drawing when it struck me that there was nothing gay, queer, or even marginally homo about this scene. Sure, there's the voyeuristic aspect of looking at casually nude men (in this particular grouping an assortment of body-conscious military types), but there's just not a suggestion of any sexual undercurrent on display. It's just a very simple view of seven dudes in a communal shower. This should be something that anyone interested in artistic representations of male anatomy or slightly overwrought tile work could own and hang in their home.

The only reason this piece will be deemed "inappropriate" is because there are six penises included in the drawing. The cocks aren't hard — perhaps a little too lovingly rendered but in no way threatening. And yet, our society is threatened by the visual appearance of dick. Why? I have no idea. Almost half of the global population owns one. There's a significant percentage of women who appreciate them to various degrees ranging from "a good fuck" to "a repellant appendage necessary to get a baby happening." So, there is a majority of the people on earth that value cocks, but we still have this American cultural ban on penises being publicly displayed. It's weird. Is it just a hangover from when the church was in power and went about chiseling off all the dicks from Greek and Roman statuary? Or is it an ingrained psychological reaction?

Movies and television will routinely show graphic, violent murder but even a bulging cock in pants is a cause for hysterical alarm. Maybe this is the main difference between queers and the rest of the world. We like looking at dicks. In person, on video, or print media, we get get joy from looking at different dicks. The only acceptable representations of cock in Art seem to be the pathetic worm versions that Michelangelo put on his guys. Why is there such widespread discomfort about seeing a body part that is so vital to the continuation of the species and is the source of so much pleasure? I don't know. What do the naysayers imagine will happen if the sight of cocks became as commonplace as an ad for Coca-Cola? I've never even heard a rational explanation for the prohibition of cock showings.

Anyway, "Shower Klatch" can really be BOUGHT and hung by anyone who may be shy about having something more sexually explicit on their wall. This is about enjoying the male body and that's pretty much the whole point of this piece. That and my eccentric propensity for elaborate tile arrangements. HAHAHAHA!!!

Seriously, has anyone any idea why all cocks must be rendered invisible? I'd like to know....

— Michael Kirwan

 

Shower Klatch — 2012 — 14" x 10½"

 

 

 

 

Any images, writings or other content on this website may be copied for personal viewing only. They may not be: redistributed; sold; altered; enhanced; modified by artificial, digital or computer imaging; used on another website or blog; posted to any internet or computer newsgroup, forum or media sharing site; nor used for any other purpose without the express written permission of the artist or KirwanArts.com.

Any images, writings or other content on this website may be copied for personal viewing only.
They may not be: redistributed; sold; altered; enhanced; modified by artificial, digital or computer imaging;
used on another website or blog; posted to any internet or computer newsgroup, forum or media sharing site;
nor used for any other purpose without the express written permission of the artist or KirwanArts.com.