Notions of Male Beauty

I chose to pick two male artists and works that are of the male form. I thought it was interesting to see how they depicted the male body being male themselves.

Ron Mueck started out making puppets for films like Dark Crystal and Labrynth. Often with Grotesque style features and strange characteristics. He definitely carries this skill into his Sculptures. His work is highly detailed and he is very secretive about his process techniques.

Mueck's sculptures are incredibly realistic. They hold a sort of anxiety in their eyes of the world they are in. One of the Sculptures I have chosen to look at is ‘Wild Man’. There is nowhere to hide for this man. He is perched on the edge of the stool gripping it’s sides towering over his observers. His head is ever so slightly tilted to the side and his eyes are trying to escapes out of his head side ways. He looks very anxious. Even though his body is pretty open it is at the same time closed. His hair and beard are long, he has body hair pretty much everywhere. You can see his ribs sticking through his skin. His legs are tense and his penis rests again his closed thighs. 

I was drawn to this guy by the sheer scale and the raw look about him. A far cry from Michaelanghelo’s David, this guy isn’t polished or smooth. He hasn’t had his hands or legs distorted to make him more desirable. His face isn’t happy, or clean shaven. This man isn't grotesque, he is also not idealised. He is real. 

Big Man is another sculpture that caught my eye. It’s something in the eyes and face, they all seem to ask the same question “why are you looking at me?”.

Big Man’s body language is closed and defensive. Huddled in a corner, his big belly resting against this thighs. His penis hiding in the gap between his legs. His skin is all freckled, thin and ageing. There is a slight ripple of the fat that lays beneath the surface. Compared to Wild Man, this guy seems to be completely hairless.

These sculptures represent body types, male grooming etc which are often associated with unconventional notions of what is ‘normal’ never mind beautiful. They are coming across non typical masculine, their body language isn't dominant or strong. What is represented in media everywhere. It leads you to ask if there is beauty in vulnerability. 

I chose to look at Egon Schiele. An artist whom I don’t know much about. At first glance I would expect his work to be quite recent. It’s nature is quite grotesque and dark. However he was alive only 28 years between 1890 and 1918. His work has a timeless look to his work though.

‘Standing Man Nude’ caught my eye. Colour is drained from this man. His eyes are hollow and sink right in his face. His face looks like it’s just clinging to his skull. His brow is all furrowed framing his forehead up to his receeding hairline. His facial expression is hard to read, his lips look puckered, it also looks like he is raising his eyebrows.

Away from his face his body also hangs of his frame. Ragged edges and rough Graphic lines. There are no contours. It has the characteristics of a sketch, like he is saying beauty is a waste of time. 

Self Portrait From The Back is another interesting one. I like how he uses colour in this one. Not particularly pleasing skin tones, But it does give a sense of contours this time. Not the most pleasing palette to look at but you can make out highlights and shadows so he is spending more time sculpting his own body here. 

I find Schiele’s work surprisingly pleasing. I love the Graphic outlines he uses to describe the men. The work he produced almost produces men to all be equals, in terms of body type. Unrealstic in terms of how jaggy he has presented them. All of them are the same shape, the only difference is their faces. I have no evidence to suggest he used very skinny men to model for him, but this is what sprung to my mind. There is no conventional beauty here. You look at these and you’re first question is ‘Is that a real man?’, are they drawn from life or does he bend their looks to a way that’s more useful to him. Compared to the way he draws women these come across as less accurate.

Mueck and Schiele are two very contrasting styles, which is why I chose them to question the conventional notions of beauty. Each have polar opposite techniques. One is very microscopic and one works loose and chaotic. Both end up with the same result. A piece of art depicting a man. There are no lies in Mueck's sculptures. Their scale alone leaves no room to hide. They have both inspired me in different ways and I love that.