| In the last 100 years, the male figure has been put into a closet, seen as too potent, homoerotic or even gay. Since long before the time of Michelangelo, the male form was seen as ideal. As Biblically described in Genesis 1:26, “Man was perfect, made in the image of God,” and E. Gibbons is one of a community of artists reaffirming the power and sensuality of the male figure with a return to classical modes. He is among a special school of artists who has stuck with the male figure when it was at its most unaccepted, even reviled. This coincides with the outbreak of AIDS in the 80s, but has its roots earlier in the century with prohibition and the growing power of the religious right. |  |
Out of the Closet and into the Box – Firehouse Studios
In the last 100 years, the male figure has been put into a closet, seen as too potent, homoerotic or even gay. Since long before the time of Michelangelo, the male form was seen as ideal. As Biblically described in Genesis 1:26, “Man was perfect, made in the image of God,” and E. Gibbons is one of a community of artists reaffirming the power and sensuality of the male figure with a return to classical modes. He is among a special school of artists who has stuck with the male figure when it was at its most unaccepted, even reviled. This coincides with the outbreak of AIDS in the 80s, but has its roots earlier in the century with prohibition and the growing power of the religious right.
Tides are turning and the winds of cultural change are coming in as New York’s Museum of Modern Art begins openly to collect the erotic works of Tom Of Finland. London’s Tate Modern is collecting works of the nude male genre, and the Guggenheim has a strong collection of Robert Mapplethorpe’s most daring works. Private collectors and museum institutions worldwide are quietly collecting male nudes and even erotic works. E. Gibbons’ “Box Series,” now in its third year and comprised of 120 paintings, has undergone subtle changes and continues to mature. Often mistaken for photographs, Gibbons’ paintings of the male figure are rooted in line thanks to his passion for Japanese art and his study in Osaka, Japan, from 1987 to 1988. His lines are layered to create a kind of topographical map for the human body, then blended to create rendered flesh forms. Looking closely, one can actually see calligraphy in the hair and areas of unblended texture. He learned how to use his brush one step at a time in the Japanese mode and, in the last 20 years, he has translated this into his oils.
Gibbons does paint female figures, but 85% of his work is of the classical male nude. It was not always this way. In the 90s, he painted an equal number of men and women and sold his sketches on ebay. Sales of his male figures, however, were four times higher than those of female figures, and were bringing in four times the price. Gibbons’ work filled a great void in the market—that of high quality, classical male figures. Wonderful classical female nudes fill galleries and the internet, but finding the same quality renderings of the male form is challenging. Thus began his conscious focus on male, especially multicultural, figures, in an attempt to bring balance to what is lacking in the world market.
A 2004 Paris vacation brought even greater focus to Gibbons’ work and style. Wandering the Louvre, day after day, he was transfixed by the masterworks of the Neoclassical period, particularly the work of David and Ingres. Sculpture, too, placed in niches throughout the museum, generated the combination of the human form and contrasting architecture that Gibbons so often incorporated into his work. He hopes to join the formalism and morality of the Neoclassical period with contemporary allegories understandable to today’s viewers, while still maintaining timelessness.
Although his paintings are often sold one at a time, they are intended to be displayed in groups of anywhere from two to 100. They are, purposefully, all lit from the left so that, no matter the space or arrangement, the paintings are always cohesive. A single painting can be touching and meaningful, but, like his AIDS Quilt, when a work is seen with its counterparts, the individual work takes on additional significance. A figure listening to a wall could be paired with a figure playing music, but the work would have a different context if paired with a figure weeping. These pairings nudge meanings in a way few other artists attempt. This is a large part of what makes Gibbons’ work different and significant—his message is one of community, relationships and associations. Biblical, mythological and societal themes give the work roots that viewers can relate to. Multicultural figures reflect the artist’s world travels and his intent to speak to a larger audience.
Gibbons’ one pet peeve is that viewers often dismiss his work as Photoshop blowups. It pains him that some people think all figurative painters must be dead. It’s hard for viewers to believe a person can “do that.” Gibbons says, “I employ many techniques to complete a painting. First, there are hours and hours of sketches and plans even before a model visits. When the model arrives, I conduct a digital photo session for later reference, and make preliminary drawings on canvas. Models pose in a real box; it is the only way to get the shadows and musculature correct.”
