Raphael Perez

Raphael Perez is the first artist to contact me, offering the use of his work in this blog. (Pats myself on the back.) He wanted to introduce me to his art, but it was a little late for that - I knew a good portion of his art already. I found his work during Gay Pride month last June, and featured him in several posts on another blog I run. I was first fascinated by his more realistic art, and I still love that style, but I've grown to really appreciate his other styles as well.

You'll see a lot of red in his art work - according to Perez, red is his "color of choice for its profound representation of passion, dominance and expressionism." He explains that the main difference between his early and later styles is basically tied to his relationships - that you can see his "transition from having had relationships with women to relationships with men, a transition from a life of restraint to sentimental outburst."

I enjoy Rafi's bold use of color, and his sense of humor - which is most obviously present in the series "Cock Fight" and his more recent Computer Porn pieces. His Naive art fascinates me with the joyfulness of the men he portrays - there's nobody hiding in the closet here. His support of fellow gay artists is another reason I'm particularly fond of Raphael Perez - he sponsors other artists on his site, which features extensive links to popular artists as well as those just getting started.


Enjoy!


Note: Click on the images to see the full sized pictures.

Kobi Sitting

Lover on Two Stools

Cock Fight #1

Cock Fight #3

Kobi on Armchair

Hug

Gay Sex

I Love Red #4

Body Parts

Oral Sex

I Love Red #6

Sharing Passion #1

---

Rafael Perez's Art: Rafi's Portfolio and Art not in his Portfolio
There are seven galleries of his art in the Portfolio - and each gallery consists of a number of categories with many pieces of artwork in each. I missed a fair amount of his paintings the first time I took a look around, so be sure you take your time and check out everything.


deviantART: Raphael Perez on deviantART

YouTube: Raphael Perez's YouTube Channel

Matt and Andrej Koymasky's Home: The Raphael Perez Scrapbook

References: Perez's Personal Links List with articles, interviews and other websites that host his work. I usually list sites I find with articles and artwork by the artist, but Perez has done my work for me - an extensive list.

Free Wallpapers with Raphael Perez's art

Free Email Greeting Cards with Raphael Perez's art

Ebay: The Raphael Perez Gay Art Poster Store - purchase Perez's Gay Art Posters

GayCardShop.com - Raphael Perez Art Cards can be purchased here



Extra Treats!


Link: Rafi dancing in a skimpy Purim costume


Link: Rafi painting on someone's ass




The Artist at 40
(Click to enlarge)



Perez's Website:
According to Perez, he hasn't updated his site in about a year. When I spent some time looking around, the most recent dates I found were two or three years old. But there's still a lot of interesting stuff to be found there. Here are some links:

Gay Paintings Magazine - Includes articles on gay artists, gay art history, gay culture, homosexuality and religion...you get the idea.

Gay Art Galleries - Includes pages on famous gay artists like Keith Haring and Henry Scott Tuke, gay photographers such as Robert Mapplethorpe, Wilhelm von Gloeden and George Platt Lynes. There are also pages on less famous/less dead, but still talented artists, as well.

Gay Art Forum - The Art Forum seems to be the only part that is still being used regularly. It's not a very busy forum, but you can still register and post there. I found some good art, and several links to new artist's work there.

Gay Art Directory - A rather extensive Links List of gay artists and photographers, as well as artist's galleries and directories, links to gay literature and music, gay search engines, organizations and businesses.



All images © Rafael Perez.
I just admire the art.