The idea of going out at night to a gay bar where we will probably find a man -or more- that is attracted to us and attracts us, someone with whom unexpectedly, and in an almost animalistic and totally analogous way, we manage to contact, connect, sexualize and effectively pick-up is something that sadly is disappearing from the gay men’s world. Today, people connect almost exclusively by alternative channels and especially through apps that are directly related to the Internet and the digital world. There was a time when we smelled our armpits, we noticed the sweat of each other, we connected quickly with just one glance, and we looked at our asses and our packages and our hands and eyes.  That time, and that way of cruising seems to be almost forgotten. 

Sadly, most of the cruising bars have been lost or are slowly closing, and focusing on that is how this collection of images was conceived, and it is essentially about the Phoenix Bar in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is one of the few bars that remain of that fantastic time where cruising, sex, flirting, picking-up and nightlife all went hand in hand, (as well as other body parts)

This show is based on my impression as a long-time-regular client at the Phoenix Bar, in the Faubourg Marigny in New Orleans. The Phoenix is the best gay/cruising bar (in my opinion) in the city as well as home-bar of The Mystic Krewe of the Lords of Leather and several other leather and fetish groups.

The show has two types of works: first, a group of small paintings which are 16 by 20 inches  (acrylic on canvas, painted mostly with spatula.)  They are signed with my street name: gamín®. And second, a group of collages which are all 11 by 17 inches.

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PAINTINGS

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In addition to the paintings I made some collages, based on the work of AMG’s Bob Mizer, Bob’s World by Dian Hanson and published by TASCHEN, as well as catalogues from MS Rau in New Orleans and the images of Raf Simons published as Isolated Heroes. I also used some recycled magazines and other materials. These firsts batch are all 11 by 17 inches and are part of the collection Postcards from the Phoenix.

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COLLAGES

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Creating collage with images of over-sexualized males is an experience similar to old-time cruising:

one never knows what you will find, you just have to pick and select based on what’s available,

and hope for the best!

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Coming soon: “Cage Birds” (Homage to Maestro Enrique Grau) will bring you some more images for the upcoming show at the Bywater Art Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana in February 2027.