Artist from South America have a tendency to use religious subjects, or religious icons in their work, I know I’m generalizing again, maybe this is just the art I get in front of me. But anyway, Christian ideas and Catholic values have always been an inspiration in art, and combining religion and erotism is something that has been done for centuries.
The erotic artist Hernan Gimenez created a modern version of Andrea Mantegna’s Saint Sebastian. Saint Sebastian was a very popular subject during the Renaissance period because it gave the artist the perfect excuse to display the male nude. The renaissance artists were always looking for opportunities to use their newly embraced classic ideas in their art, and it’s amazing how they got away with it.
That the masters of the Renaissance are the mayor inspiration in the work of Hernan Gimenez is obvious, not only the Saint Sebastian image, but the other male nudes as well. The ‘fresco’ nudes series even have an aging structure to give them the same appearance as the frescos from this art period.
Is it a bad thing to lean against known images or historical artistic concepts? In my opinion it isn’t, the st. Sebastian image is quite refreshing and does have it’s personal touch. The ‘fresco nudes’ on the other hand could use some more personality of their own.
The male nudes of Hernan Gimenez
For the real art background diggers out there:
The Iconography of Saint Sebastian
