You're Going Down! - 2

Second in a series on gay fantasies of jail life (see Part 1)

 

This picture seems to show an old lag irresistibly drawn to the younger man who is sharing his cell. One can imagine it's early morning and he's woken up feeling randy.  At this thoughtful moment we can't tell if the object of his desire is asleep or seductively surrendering to the investigation. He's younger but obviously old enough or he wouldn't be in the same cell. If you notice how he seems to have shaved his lower regions and how his gel-ruffled head hair is bleached a different colour to his armpits, you get the impression he's not an innocent either! 

This young man's introduction to prison life is particularly comprehensive at the hands - and feet of a relaxed, hairy mentor. The young tearaway finally learning about discipline and obedience from an older, wiser and not unkindly man.

It's not obvious at first but there's an odd discontinuity between the upper body and legs of the bear in this picture. There's another disjunction between the left and right hand side of his body as well. The left side (as we look) seems to be leaning forward as though to restrain the younger man's hands behind his back. The right side, chin resting casually on fist, seems to be just enjoying his pupil's first attempts at servicing. The probing, groping feet at front and rear belong to two other distinct moments again. 

It's as though all these different actions at different stages of their encounter have been compressed into one image. As though the picture has evolved as it is being drawn, the artist imagining the scene progressing in his mind's eye and capturing it's development on paper. In this way he's succeeded in capturing time (possibly unwittingly). As our eyes travel round the picture we can recreate that changing scene for ourselves as our focus shifts from one element to another around the central kneeling, unchanging figure, which is the 'captive' recipient of all this attention. This multidimensional effect is not a million miles away from the aims of the experimental art of the Cubists and other early 20th century art movements, but it's much more accessible to us. 

Quite an achievement, even if it was unintentional!

It seems you don't have to be young to be propositioned in jail. This sweaty, hairy specimen doesn't look like he's an innocent - or a pushover either - but he's being intimidated here. It looks like he's being invited to do some cleaning up for his dark-skinned cell-mate and refusal is not going to be an option.

Much of Telamon's work is way too dark for this blog, but I like the atmosphere of this simple image. His CGI technique is not ultra-sophisticated but he cleverly uses perspective and the close up view of muscular body parts to enhance the impression of dominance and dangerous latent power in a claustrophobic, confined space. 

 

 This artist gets down to the bare essentials, there's no sense of conflict here, in fact the warm colours are cosy and romantic, but if you study the faces it's a determined and raunchy encounter with satisfaction being demanded all round. The sparsely detailed cell creates a sense of quiet isolation but the cold light burning in the passage beyond is a reminder that this is purely temporary. 

This artist's economical and atmospheric CGI style is markedly different to Telamon's (above).

The prison warders are never far away and these two seem to have waited until they were good and ready to interrupt this little amorous scene. Kirwan's depiction of their excitement is less than subtle, however. The restraining actions of the second guard suggests there may be an amicable outcome although the two prisoners can still expect to be given more hard time.

The blue highlights on the naked boys skins are a recognised academic highlighting technique. The blue is the complementary colour to the orangey tone of the flesh. They are visually linked. If you stare hard at a bright blue object and then look away you will see an orange 'after burn' of the image in your vision. You will see a similar technique used in still life paintings where a red apple is typically given green highlighting to accentuate it's colour contrast. I'm not sure the effect works here however!

The warders are content to be enthusiastic spectators in this case. Few would want to tackle this tattooed and well-endowed hard case without good reason, particularly when his passions have been inflamed by illicit porn on his TV (illicit also?). Pity then the young innocent, whose clean, sporty looking trainers testify to his hitherto virtuous state, but who is about to get his first taste of the seamier side of prison.

 

Even the bars of prison cannot contain the lust of lonely men, not sharing a cell is no guarantee of safety. Craig Esposito's account of a frustrated opportunist seizing his chance is full of drama but the mechanics of this coupling would be harder to execute than the image suggests!

 

Broderick's version of the same scenario is slightly more realistic. It's a pretty picture with two cute guys in action and I love the underwear details. The pastel colouring is more reminiscent of a kids play area than a House of Correction but perhaps that makes their balancing on the prison grille as though it were a climbing frame entirely appropriate!

The saucy pin-up calendar on the wall tells us these guys are straight really, but suffering from a  lack of female company. It's also a reminder that they are in for a lengthy stretch without getting any. Interestingly, not one of the jail images I have used in this series to date includes lines chalked on the wall, a motif traditionally used in cartoons to mark off the interminable days of isolation. Obviously time flies when you have the right company!