Anonymous Selfie: Red Painting

This is part of my larger painting series "ANONYMOUS SELFIE," a series of paintings that explores portraiture through the use of selfies, in particular how gay men tend to represent themselves. The images in ANONYMOUS SELFIE culled from the internet and gay hook-up sites, come out of the shadows of history to loudly announce their sexuality on social media mark a dramatic shift from one generation of gay men to the next. While early generations might have preferred to meet in tastefully lit bars or darkened public places, this new generation of gay men digitally circulates their portraits (naked bodies and recognizable faces alike) for the world to see. But as the oxymoronic title ANONYMOUS SELFIE implies, what is actually covered up by such brazen self-portraiture? Keywords: male, male form, male nude, pixelated, pixel, pixelism, sexy, LGBT, LGBTQ, queer, gay, selfie, erotic, cubism, abstract art, geometric, gay men, gay nude, selfie, internet, grindr, hookup, BDSM, leather, red