The Art of Etienne, Dom Orejudos, 1980, Target Studios, Very Good Softcover, 18 +

Orejudos, Dom. South Africa: Target Studios, 1980.

English, Very Good Softcover, 50 pp. 

ISBN: 

Very Good staplebound softcover in full color stiff red pictorial wraps, minor shelfwear to edges, scuffing to back cover, minor warping to fore edge of text block, crease to bottom fore edge corner, else clean and unmarked. Staples showing no oxidization. 50pp. Replete with black-and-white illustrations plus ten in full-color. Includes aForeword by Tom of Finland and an Introduction by Jon Target with accompanying black-and-white photograph of Dom Orejudos (1933-1991), the artist otherwise known as Etienne. 

Orejudos was a dancer and choreographer with the Illinois Ballet Company for 15 years, one of the founders of the International Mr. Leather pageants, writer of gay erotic stories, and an internationally known artist, famous for his male physique studies. Recurring themes of Etienne’s work, and represented here, include dominance and submission featuring hyper-masculine depictions of cops, soldiers, athletes, bikers, prisoners and the like. Etienne, who also worked under the pen name, Stephen, created illustrations and narratives that explore gay male eroticism with joyful humor. Working primarily with 1950s male physique archetypes, he had an innate ability to conjure heightened eroticism from otherwise mundane encounters. A fearless pioneer, Etienne and his unabashed celebratory approach to the gay sexual experience still inspire the artists and enthusiasts who’ve come after him. No gay art collection is complete without Etienne.