Customer Reviews

Bronx Boys

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I have known Anthony for two years now and find his work original and varied. He has studied at the Leslie-Lohman's Queer Men's Erotic Art Workshop and the Gay Center on 13th Street. The pictures chosen by the Bruno Gmunder company for "Bronx Boys" emphasize the edgier quality of some of his output, but there are other aspects of his art. Some of his work is definitely humorous, as in his recent subway series, like his depiction of an art class being conducted in a subway station. The juxtaposition of the nude male model leaning against a steel pillar and the reactions of several surprised women creates some of the humor. That series was not completed until after this book was published, and so is not included here, but there are a few pieces here that will raise a smile, like the homeless young man advertising the features he hopes to find in a future home.
There are two excellent portraits. One is Anthony's own self-portrait on the page opposite Harvey Redding's introduction. The other is a beautiful drawing from a side view of a talented vocal artist who also models at the Workshop.
One of the most intensely erotic is just inside the front cover. People in this artist's works don't just like each other. They smolder.

To give a realistic opinion on the book, one must look at it objectively and no subjective. I have studied art all my life, specially Human Anatomy. When I bought this book I was expecting quality work as good as the cover. I bought the book new on a special deal for 9.99 and having looked through it, I still feel like I was robbed. Speaking from an artist point of view, the drawings in this book lack creativity, are too simple and most of the time there are anatomical errors or for-shorting errors. Fore-shortening means drawing a body part in space... either coming at you or going away from you. I understand drawing an arm coming at you can be tricky but even Tom of Finland found a way to make his errors work on his favor. The colosr used in this book is very college undergraduate level, pencil, ink and colored pencils with disregard to lighting and shadowing principles. The drawings feel more like they were done to cater specifically to the book and rushed, as opposed to a collection of already done work over time, put together to make a book. Being of Hispanic descent I was enticed on buying this book because the theme seems to be the only original aspect. There are very few latino gay erotica artists who truly capture the latino culture of NYC. Despite my disappointment over drawings that need revision, I would like to see more of this artist work and hopefully see it progress and be as beautiful as a lot of well known gay erotica artists. I do not recommend buying this book, however I do recommend keeping an eye on this up and coming artist, I would love to see more of his work.