One of Abigail Ekue’s most successful projects is her attempt to dispel the myth that whilst it is fine for men to admire naked art of women, it is still not acceptable when the roles are reversed. So she set about correcting that with a whole series of photographs of regular guys of all shapes, sizes and ages that spawned an Exhibition and now a stunning Limited Edition book with the simple title ‘Bare Men’.
We wrote this back in 2016, and boy in 9 short years how the playing field has changed. The anonymous forces behind the main online platforms such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) have created an obnoxious level of censorship that would make the upright British Victorians seem like actual purveyors of porn. When QUEERGURU now publishes the most innocent piece, whether it a bare ankle or genitalia, we are immediately threatened from the anonymous puritanical censors. We have a solution, and that is now just posting anything slightly controversial ONLY on our website and totally avoiding SM .
It really pisses us off but over the past years we have built up a faithful following on FB alone of 130K and we would hate for FB just tio cast then aside if they carru throigh their threat of deleting our account.
Now Abigail Ekue is curating Bare Men: group photograph exhibition celebrating all expressions of the male nude ranging from the classical to the erotic. Artists working in the figure studies, fashion and glamour, editorial, outdoor, conceptual, erotic and self portrait genres were invited and selected to participate. Each artist shares their own appreciation, familiarity or tension with the male nude through sensual, vulnerable, experimental and sexual imagery. Bare Men: The Group Show marks Abigail Ekue’s curatorial debut. And its is something Queerguru us determined to share with you.
EXHIBITING ARTISTS:
Abigail Ekue, Adam Burke, Aeric Meredith-Goujon, Andy Kabi, Anira Ivo, Ann-Marie Stillion, Arnold Barretto, Berta A. Daniels, Bill Mattern, DearIndifference, Ekin Balcıoğlu, Evan Murphy, Exposing40, H. Tim Secnal, Jen Folsom, Linda Richard, Logan Benedict, Naked World, Nick Kershaw, Oliver Estrella, Only Sky Studios, Patrick, Peter J. Robinson Jr., Raj Kamal, Shelagh Howard, Steve Stenzel, Tim Foley, Wolf Schwarz, Wylde Soul Photography, Zaza Greene
I chose photography as the sole medium for this show because it is the most censored when it comes to the male nude.” — Abigail Ekue, photographer & curator
Bare Men: The Group Show A Group Photography Exhibit Curated by Abigail Ekue Exhibition on View September 29 - October 4, 2019 The Living Gallery, 1094 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11221