PERFECTLY
FLAWED
by Michael
Kirwan
The Theme
Human beings are genetically programmed to identify and appreciate
those members of the species that exhibit pleasing symmetrical
facial structures, young healthy bodies and physical strength
because these qualities hold the promise of delivering the most
successful offspring. The notion of "Classic Beauty" is a cultural
attempt to illustrate and highlight the corporeal properties most
admired by a given population, the features and aspect most
desired for optimum mating purposes. The idealized perfect form of
either a male or a female is essentially a sublime guide to
choosing a sexual partner, a visual standard by which
attractiveness is judged. In essence, the iconic individual serves
as a symbolic representation of calculated procreation in society.
One of
the paradoxes of the homosexual mutation (referring only to the
males, I do not consider lesbians) is that generally we are much
more sensitive to and aware of the balance and refinements that
constitute "Perfection" despite the fact that our sexual
activities do not result in breeding. We are keenly responsive to
physical beauty for no apparently rational reason since
cocksucking and buttfucking have never produced a genetic melding.
All of the biological components that contribute to a man's
personal magnetism are completely irrelevant to acts of sodomy.
Hence, the entire concept of a queer version of the "Ideal Man" is
specious at best. A pointless exercise in lauding form over
function, a frivolous enterprise with no actual "end game" as all
the attributes being celebrated are both short-term gilding and
don't in any way guarantee a satisfying fuck or even amiable
companionship. The only practical function of a queer "Dream Boy"
is to serve as an animated accessory, a position devoid of any
dignity or respect. This gay fascination with masculine beauty
eludes me. Proximity and willingness are the criteria I most react
to, if a guy is hard and happy to share my company he's as
beautiful as I need him to be.
The Drawing–All That Glitters
The main subject of this drawing could just have easily appeared
as an Asian,an old man
with a potbelly, a chiseled Nordic type, a tattooed street vagrant
with missing teeth, an African Bushman, an eighth grader or a
dwarf. What I get a hard-on for is extremely fluid. In the course
of a stroll to the Post Office I can usually come across ten or
twenty males that seem perfect to me as I look at them. The boy is
"blue" because he is unreal (and I thought that indicating a
particular skin tone as being "ideal" would insult those of a
different shade). Although I don't usually critique or analyze my
artwork, I would suggest that the intention of this piece is that
one may indeed focus on beauty but needn't be oblivious to
everything else in the surrounding world or one might just miss
some incredible sights and patterns. And it's pretty. As an
illustrator I normally do more involved scenes as more information
can be gleaned from a character interacting with the background
and other people, so doing a single figure drawing is extremely
rare for me. But the "Ideal Man" has no connections to anything
(except perhaps some hyper-masculine accessories) or anyone. He
exists solely to be studied and admired by the viewer. But
sometimes what's beyond him may actually be more fascinating…
The Artist
Michael Kirwan was born in New York City on December 27th, 1953.
He drew on paper bags with ballpoint pens to escape his creepy
childhood and create a universe where he felt safe. Sexual imagery
began appearing in his doodles and sketches when he was eight or
nine. He would draw naked women for the neighborhood boys so he
could watch them fumble with their junior erections.
A
distant and aloof teenager, he preferred his drawn world to the
actual one. Michael didn't have any art instruction and was leery
that his individual style might be compromised if he studied art,
so he didn't. At seventeen he was married, the following year he
became a father. He was divorced five years later. A radical
liberal, quasi-communist, Utopian anarchist, and
anti-"Establishment" isolationist, Michael worked at a few labor-
intensive occupations and drew only for his own amusement. In the
early eighties, having embraced the concept of a 'gay community'
while working at the St. Marks Bathhouse, he was exposed to
homoerotic imagery and thought he might be able to make a couple
of extra bucks. He was first published in Stroke magazine in 1984.
In 1990 circumstances lead him to becoming a full-time freelance
illustrator for skin magazines. Since that time his work has
regularly been featured in Freshmen, Mandate, Honcho, Playguy,
Torso, Inches, Adovacte Men, Blueboy, Dude, Allboy, Badpuppy, as
well as lesser known titles like Drummer, Little Sissy, Red Tails,
G-Men, SM-Z, Bad and even a few that he's completely forgotten.
His art has also been seen in a number of straight magazines such
as 18 and Eighteen.
Michael
Kirwan has had his work included in multi-artist exhibits in
Portland, New York, Miami and Los Angeles over the past ten years.
Unfortunately, due to his lifelong fondness for gin and his total
disdain for any form of practical record-keeping, accounting,
business (or personal) management or archiving, the actual dates
and details of these many glorious events are unavailable at this
time.
Mr. Kirwan currently resides in Miami Beach and looks forward to
one day expatriating to Costa Rica or Spain where he can serenely
draw sexually explicit homoerotic images until his candle is
ultimately extinguished.