Review: Stripped: Uncensored

Artist(s): Carlos García, HvH, Joe Phillips, Michael Breyette, Mioki, P239, Xavier Gicquel.

Three years after the first Stripped anthology, publisher Bruno Gmünder is back with a second helping. The thick (250 pages) book is, like its predecessor, a collection of stylistically-varied gay erotic illustrations, with the one exception being an excerpt from an erotic comic, namely the upcoming Brother to Dragons #2, (which I’ve written, art by Carlos García). Here’s the complete list of the artists: Jack Balas, Bastian, BEAU, Patrick Branch, Michael Breyette, Michael Broderick, Chancer, Rob Clarke, William Donovan, Jason Driskill, Patrick Fillion, FoxyAndy, Victor Gadino, Carlos García, Xavier Gicquel, Anthony Gonzales, Wes Hempel, Glenn Hillario, Hokane, HvH, Steven J. King, Juvaun Kirby, Michael Kirwan, Tai Lin, Eddie Lopez, Andrea Madalena, Michael Mitchell, Mike, Mioki, Moro, Jacob Mott, Paul Newboult, Chuck Nitzberg, P239, Joe Phillips, Adam Razak, Harvey Redding, Miguel Angel Reyes, Robert W. Richards, Paul Richmond, Dan Romer, Roscoe, Peter Skirrow, Jezza Smilez, P.C. Smith, Gary Speziale, Jozef Szekeres, George Towne, Michail Tsikoudakis, Ross Watson, Patrick Webb, Todd Yeager, Stefan Zeh, Bob Ziering.

I can only write the same things about this book as I did about the first one: there’s something for everyone, from photo-realistic to cartoony and stylised, some of the art shows only partially nude men, and some is sexually explicit, and yes, I have my favorites. Jack Balas’s blend of painting and line art adds layers of meaning to seemingly usual sex scenes; Michael Kirwan’s paintings are full of everyday guys and scenes, which I find very appealing, his slightly exaggerated style cock-wise creating a fun dichotomy (and I really wish someone would publish a collection of his art); Dan Romer’s colorful, almost abstract leather art is full of energy; Michail Tsikoudakis’s paintings are very evocative, with a use of neutral colors which sets them apart from most of the other art in the book; Chancer’s black and white fine line art looks like a fragile piece of porcelain…and I haven’t covered half the book yet.

Jack Balas

Mickael Kirwan

Dan Romer

Michail Tsikoudakis

Chancer

The only drawback to such a collection is that only 3 or 4 pieces of art per artists are shown, which can be frustrating when it’s artists who don’t have any internet presence. Hopefully, that will make them get a website or at least a gallery somewhere. But of course, the main merit of this book is to show their work to a wider audience.  You can find this book at any bookseller, or at Amazon.

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UP. 2010/08: This book is now collected with the previous one into Completely Stripped.

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