May 26, 2018
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With a sad heart, we are letting you know that
artist Michael Kirwan passed away peacefully
on the morning of Saturday, May 26, 2018,
in Los Angeles, California.
Hoist a glass and make a toast
in celebration of the life of a
great and unique man
as well as an amazing artist. |
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Michael was born December 27th, 1953. He lived a life filled
with joys, passions, family, friends, and art. Michael resided
in New York, New York; Miami, Florida; and most recently, Los
Angeles, California. Creating his art was his most passionate
activity, but he also enjoyed socializing, cooking, intimate
encounters, movies, sharing his opinions, and being an astute
observer and recorder of life. |
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While Michael’s artistic talents surfaced early, life had a way
of forcing real-world responsibilities on a young Michael. Yes,
he was married early in his life and was pleased to have
fathered a son. As Michael was reaching his late twenties, his
marriage ended and he began a new, queer life that brought
comfort within himself and adventures that would make for
raucous stories for decades to come. |
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Michael always had a gift for telling and writing stories, but
it was his illustrations and drawings that would give his
friends and fans the clearest window into Michael’s thoughts and
his heart. His first published work of art appeared in PlayGuy
magazine in 1980, and getting paid to create art was Michael’s
sweetest dream come true. Through the late 1980’s until the mid
2000’s, Michael’s highly detailed and evocative art was
published in more than 600 magazines. There were periods of the
1990’s when Michael’s art appeared in as many as six different
magazines per month. The art was gay, straight, fetish,
hardcore, and promotional to illustrate fiction, comics, and
real life. Michael was incredibly prolific and his talent grew
and became more and more popular with fans, readers, and art
collectors. |
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Michael’s works of art have appeared in galleries and
exhibitions around the world. After moving to California, he
spent a year as the Artist in Residence with the Tom of Finland
Foundation. Michael enjoyed an inspirational relationship with
the work and history of Tom and a very supportive relationship
with the people of his Foundation who are dedicated to the
education and preservation of erotic art for all artists. These
years would provide Michael with the most important friendships
and partnerships, and during this time, Michael created the best
work of his life. Through that association, Michael appeared at
internationally attended events and exhibitions that brought new
admirers to his work and his Grand Persona as an artist. |
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Collectors with great taste and savvy expertise from across the
globe have purchased Michael’s original works. After the adult
magazine publishers faltered against the internet, Michael drew
for his pleasure, to pay rent, and for fans commissioning unique
and always interesting erotic scenes via his website
KirwanArts.com. Michael always felt he was visually documenting
every variety and scenario in gay and straight sexual
activities. His inspirations for drawing his characters came
from the everyday, regular people he would encounter on the
streets, on the bus, throughout parks and markets, in seedy
bars, and in dark alleys where names were not exchanged but
furtive fun was found. Michael’s drawings exposed the fevered
excitement and erotic beauty in every body and face. Michael
always said he did not draw “pretty” guys because he knew
regular guys had better sex. |
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Selections of Michael’s works have appeared in numerous books,
but a highlight for him came in 2011 as a broad retrospective of
his paintings was published in a monograph book titled Just So
Horny. The obvious theme tying the works together was Michael’s
obsessive attention to details, patterns, and backgrounds. The
characters he drew were front and center, but Michael gave them
life in a rich and colorful environment he painted on paper as
he created the elaborate backstories in his head. Much of
Michael’s work was created with fine-point watercolor brushes,
making thin lines and blending an abundance of colors and
layers, to make fantasies filled with his humor and wry sense of
style leaping from the page. Michael rarely drew in front of
anyone because he preferred solitude as he worked hunched over
an art pad straining and crossing his eyes as he would create
minute details and repeating patterns as fabrics and tile works
setting a stage for his horny creations. |
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Michael wanted everyone to buy erotic art
(most especially his, of course)
and hang it where it should be seen by all. |
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There will be
A Celebration of the Life of Michael Kirwan
on Saturday, June 30, 2018,
at the Tom of Finland Foundation
in Los Angeles, California.
More details will be posted soon.
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