Oztangles Retrospective 5

The gay art of Oztangles
Read this mitchmen series from Part 1

2020

Oztangles - The Temple 02

Oztangles produced a series of images in 2020 called 'The Temple' and in this one he creates the atmosphere of a sacrificial chamber with a captive lying spread-eagled across Oz's favourite altar stone. Before him stands a monk-like guard armed with a very sharp-looking machete.  

Two more men are suspended from nearby pillars looking on as they await their own fate. Meanwhile they are being utilised as light sources having been fitted with somewhat incongruous, leather fetish gags which are apparently come supplied with an ingenious, candle sconce accessory that you won't get from Ikea. Judging by the skeletons dangling just behind the altar, this is a long term commitment. 

Oz's rendering of anatomy and clothing reaches impressive levels here, but the background architecture is a bit flat. He dips into perilous waters with his retro, Afro-cum-Oceanic characterisation of the High Priest.

Oztangles - The Temple 06

The denouement turns out to be more prosaic as the intimidating guard melts away leaving the principals to get down to some dirty work.

A nicely balanced composition with good suspension imagery. 

Oztangles - Zane in Trouble

Suspension is the main focus of this image with a captive about to be dipped into water. The men are clad in traditional leather fetish gear but the setting has the feel of a modern workshop. It's a background Oz has used to good effect in other images. Here it all looks surprisingly clean and clinical.  

An ingenious transparent container is used for the dunking water. It gives a stronger sense that Zane is being lowered into it, not just suspended above it. It looks a tightish fit too, with not much scope for Zane to struggle, let alone lifting his head out of the water once he is dipped in it. 
These two are not playing games.

The character at the controls on the left has an other worldly quality about him that is quite sinister with dark, unreal skin toning and a fierce face that resembles the vengeful characters seen in medieval paintings and statues. Zane's pointing finger suggests he is attempting to negotiate a reprieve.

Oztangles  - Big Mistake

The man in this image seems to have made a surprising choice for the location of what seems to be his first tattoo. I can't say I'm qualified to comment on just how painful this is and, since tattoos feature in Oz's images infrequently, I suspect he is commenting from the side-lines too. Judging by his erectile state the recipient is finding some compensation in the caring hands of the tattooist, if not the needle itself - or maybe it's the combination of the two that is so stimulating. 

I'm no expert but the way the needle is being applied here doesn't look conventional. One might wish the tattoist would be showing more concentration on the task in hand and surely he doesn't need to spread his legs quite that wide!

The tattooing scenario disguises the sexual implications of this scenario only thinly, but there's a second, less obvious layer to the eroticism. It's the customer's right hand, tightly gripping the armrest of the chair. It also appears to be resting in the tattooist's crotch, indeed it's easy to mistake his wrist with a suggestive body part belonging to the other man. In its way, this element is a mini-masterpiece of  hidden eroticism that the old masters of gay art would have greatly appreciated. 

Oz has managed to find some interesting and authentic-looking background detail for this picture which greatly enhances it. For once there isn't a dildo in sight.

Oztangles - Zdeno's Workout 1

I rather like this straightforward piece showing a boxer beefing up in a gym. It's a place which we've visited several times before in this retrospective (see Part 4, covering 2015-19). If you've seen those images there are no prizes for guessing what happens to the mirror in the companion piece to this picture - Zdeno's Workout 2 (Clue #1:- he's naked in it, Clue #2 see below).

2021

Oztangles - Quarantine Wank

Lest we forget, 2020-21 gave the word 'isolation' a whole new meaning. For gay men obsessed with cruising the deprivation must have been at least the equal of the more well-publicised traumas.
The very term 'lock down' must have seemed a cruel irony 

This image celebrates the consolation prize God left with men, for use when they weren't required for procreation. You probably remember that we have seen other versions of this memorable, sexy pose  at mitchmen blog. 

Oz's cum-spattered mirror seems to have become something of an obsession, extending back a long way (e.g. 2015), well before the virus struck, but the 'virtual' partner seen in the reflection acquired a new vividness in those months of isolation. The 'Angel' character goes back even further to 2009  and has made other sporadic appearances since then (notably in 2019). His imaginary wings that which might have allowed him to fly away to freedom became a poignant symbol in a period that was a time of introspection and nostalgia for the old days.

And who believed the politicians who said Covid would become the new normal? 
They actually got it right for once, dammit!

Oztangles - Ed's Nightmare 05

The centrepiece of 2021's offerings has to be 'Ed's Nightmare' in which he is abducted from his bed by a military gang and handed over in shackles to the leather clad thug we see in this picture. In a typically Oz, high-tech torture chamber he is mounted in a metal spreader frame in front of a TV camera which is dispassionately recording every moment of his nightmare. 

 The X-frame and spread-eagle pose is standard bdsm imagery, but combining it with suspension is less common and very disorienting for the recipient. Oz manages to infuse Ed's limbs with a degree of tension that make it look genuinely stretched. His body shaping and skin tones are softly succulent and the dramatic, ethnic tattoo on his backside accentuates his vulnerability and nudity. 

Those grey demonic skin tones seen in 'Zane in Trouble' (above) surface again in this villain (if you view him as one). He sits back contemplating his prey and  allowing Ed plenty of time to assess him in return, wondering what he is planning to do with him. Meanwhile the camera catches every minute.

Oztangles - Ed's Nightmare 11

Ed is subjected to a series of torments without ever leaving the frame. Many of them utilise electricity and this, the last scene, is arguably the most dramatic. Notice the time that has elapsed during this demanding examination. His feet have been lowered closer to the ground, perhaps to achieve electrical grounding, but he can still only reach it with his toes. The curious balancing on curled toes here seems to reference ballet technique, a painful way to support body weight for the untrained - and it looks it here, although it's not clear whether the frame is obliging him to do that in this set-up.

Oztangles - Tony's Adventure 06

Oztangles - Tony's Adventure 09

Oztangles - Tony's Adventure 07

This is an intermediate scene. Normally I would pass over an image like this since it's frequently replicated in every porn film you've ever seen and most homoerotic art. But I think Oz has made an exceptionally good job of it here. Tony's pose is perfection and his chunky physique is transformed into an idealised form that any man would appreciate. Paradoxically, the slender stripper unexpectedly exhibits gloriously chunky thighs, an exaggeration that I appreciate. His sitting position has no hint of submissiveness, he's comfortable giving service. Nice.

Oztangles - Laundry Day 01

This is a more everyday fantasy, which was memorably invoked in 1985 (but not fulfilled) in the Nick Kamen launderette ad for Levi jeans and also in one of my own ramblings My Beautiful Launderette. Like the 'Tony' series this story features a man whose outward appearance might be considered unattractive by some, in this case because he is wearing spectacles. 

By contrast his opposite number is a classic, desirable hunk with a trendy, undercut hairstyle, an enviable physique and skimpy cut-off shorts intended to make sure everyone notices him. But in an unusual twist on the 'Unattainable Bar Man' syndrome, it's he who falls for the Laundromat attendant - or his ass at any rate - as he watches him tending the machines.

Oztangles - Laundry Day 05

Oztangles - Pier Street Sunday Morning

This image is also based on an unusual pose, but it is really a commonplace sight on city streets and at surfer beaches. Oz transforms the imagery by making the city skateboarder a grown up man and stripping away his clothing to reveal an emphatically adult and well-honed physique. The resulting figure study seems surprisingly original and his twisted body and balancing pose is comparable in beauty to the male statues of antiquity - just imagine the skateboard replaced by a discus or a javelin in his hand. However, this modern, over-grown kid is much sexier. 

This is one of those render pictures where it's hard to tell where the software leaves off and the artistry begins, but for me it's the result that counts and this is a great result. It's one of several images in 2021 where Oz explores athletic, unconventional body poses (like the wheelbarrow and quarantine images above) and it's much to the benefit of his art.

Oztangles - Naughty Corner 02

The title of this piece prepares you for another S&M romp but in fact this is more chuck-flick than bdsm. It shows the moment when Mario, the sub is freed from his chastity cage and tether after 3 weeks in isolation for dilly-dallying with the plumber. Oz does not indicate whether the formidable electrical installation nearby has figured in this punishment.

 The sub-title to this scene is 'Keep still, dammit, the key's stuck!'  So it's actually a comic moment with the master kneeling, apologetically almost, before his hyper -frustrated slave. 

Another cum-splattered mirror seems in prospect.

Oztangles - A Busy Day (detail)

I won't leave 2021 without mentioning this series, entitled 'Execution'. It's a frank and disturbing telling of a grisly tale with a twist of cynical exploitation thrown in. Coming from this artist, it's unexpected. I have covered noose art here at mitchmen before (see 'noose' label at foot of the post for other posts on the subject) but this detail is all I intend to show of Oz's challenging contribution to the genre. 

You can view the whole sequence at the link given at the end of this post. 

2022

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 01

Oztangle's 2022 work is dominated by the Punishment Cell series. It picks up the theme of isolation as punishment which featured also in Naughty Corner (just above). However, in this case it's a Military Punishment for answering back. The nudity of the prisoner here doesn't quite fit with that background and the chastity device on a chain which is only just long enough to allow him use the bucket seems to take us into Guantanamo country. It seems that he is in the midst of relieving his (understandable) anxieties when the disciplinarian Sergeant Vane arrives wearing his 'wet work' outfit and bringing rope and blood-curdling promises.

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 03

Jack, the hapless offender is released from his chain, but only to be trussed for punishment on a bloodstained table. Hopefully, the assorted implements on the bottom shelf mean the torments planned for him will be bloodless. 

The tight leg restraint shown here is a tie that has long excited me, going way back to the 'My Initiation' image. It's ultimately a demanding stress position and often features (without ropes) in wrestling contests. Tied like this, I doubt that Jack could achieve the back-lift shown, unaided.

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 05

Sgt Vane's ropework ultimately results in this neat shibari packaging coupled with suspension (again). The Sgt proceeds to torment imaginatively Jack's unprotected, vulnerable areas. 

This is a further example of Oztangle's interest in unusual, stressed positions for the male body which seemed to begin in 2021. Technically it's a significant advance from the simple X-Spreading deployed in Ed's Nightmare (see above) and several other Oz images.  For the observer this tight, self-contained restraint causes the erotic focus to shift from the body of the prisoner to the restraint mechanism. 

This tight relative of the hog-tie position is very hard to capture, even in photographs, so Oz has done well here. The eternal rendering problem of achieving a snug-looking fit with clothing and (here) rope doesn't prevent him from producing a great, stimulating image.

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 08

Sgt Vane is not without a sense of humour. He expounds the theory of chaotic movement as he swings Jack on the suspension chain with weights attached to his nipples and balls and going in different directions. Oz manages to capture a real sense of swinging movement in this picture and his contrasting characterisations of the two men work well too. The more subtle bdsm of this image lies in the tweaking of Jack's arms as he swings, heavily weighted on the chain.

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 10

Lesson learned,  Jack formally makes amends in the time-honoured, homoerotic way. 

Offering service while tied up is not uncommon in fetish imagery but I can't recall it being portrayed in quite this way before. Oz emphasises Jack's restraint and submissiveness, rather than the sexual exchange. This position, formally kneeling with head-bowed, departs from the usual 'oral' formula whereby the sucker is expected to look up at his master as though entranced with him and anxious to know that he's doing the job correctly.  

By contrast Jack's pose looks detached and rather dignified and it is intensely appealing.  

Oztangles - Five More Minutes

This image relies on a similar use of weights to torment, but with the focus on simple endurance rather than rough tugging. Once again, Oz does well to create a real impression of stretching with the captive forced to stand on tip-toes. It's a virtually inescapable form of restraint and immobilisation and it's pure simplicity heaps frustration on top for the captive. His agonised expression gives a real sense of that his thresholds are already being tested to the limit and the announcement (in the title) of an extension to his designated time is adding anger to his difficulties.

The tormentor's slightly unkempt and grizzled appearance contrasts with the college boy neatness of his test subject and predictably he's completely indifferent to the poor man's mute appeal. Characteristically abreast of the latest trends, Oz shows him taking a photo of his discomfort and helpless captivity. It adds a little twist of sadistic humiliation with the further threat of a public airing of his plight for the amusement of strangers - and possibly those who know him.

These two make an improbable couple, but Oz des not enlighten us on what has brought them together in this way.

Oztangles - The Night Before

This image may offer a clue to that puzzle. It seems to show the same older man, but dressed in an unexpectedly professional manner. He's approaching a younger street hustler who's neatly dressed and clean looking, but provocatively appealing. More fantasy than reality alas. He has a similar appearance to the prisoner in the preceding picture.

Oztangles - The Morning After

The companion image shows a very different outcome with both parties having ended up in a seedy hotel(?) room, naked and apparently unfulfilled. It harks back to the 2019 Night Clerk image which seemed to embody a similar sense of disillusion and disappointment. In another Oz reversal of the usual, depressing rules of life, it seems to be the prodigiously equipped young hunk who has not come up to the mark.

Oztangles - Imperial Guard

This is Oz's latest posting at Renderotica as I write. 

Here's to 2023!

Read this mitchmen series from Part 1

~

Oztangle's work is not always perfectly crafted but there a plenty of impressive highlights. He explores interesting bdsm themes but also more commonplace feelings which ordinary mortals can relate to.

There's an extensive collection of Oztangles at Renderotica which is free to join. The filters applied to some works don't always stop you viewing them, but they're not always as exciting as you might hope!