I am a big fan of the paintings of Ross Watson. You might be familiar with the Sports/Men series he did for the Gay Games in Sydney last year that was based around athletes. People often mistake his contemporary realism for photography because the portraits are so palpable; his models are almost always friends or acquaintances. The atmospheres of his paintings are surreal dreamscapes of male eroticism, nature, and fantasy. Part Eric Fischl, part Edward Hopper, part Dali, but always sexy.
I’ve been watching his latest series, “Galerie de Glaces/Hall of Mirrors”, slowly come to life on his website. He’s taken paintings by old masters and “Watsonized” them, placing contemporary (and sensual) images of young men in masterworks. Are the boys in the paintings or detached from them? Good question. Some of these are incredibly gorgeous, and like all good art, there’s another dimension there waiting to be explored.
Dear Santa…
