New Artist: Andonmaru

At this year’s Mardi Gras Festival, we will be introducing a new artist who, up until now, has never exhibited in Australia or even on the web. Once again this year we have works from a number of interesting artists in our exhibition, not least of which are Andonmaru’s cute and somewhat wacky characters. Andomaru is a completely new breed of comedic artist the likes of which has not been seen before.
Artist’s comment: Usually symbolic images of the mature male are portrayed as either simply humorous or as the opposite of what is considered beauty (i.e. naïveté). This is a tradition which extends back to the Zen Buddhist literati paintings of the middle ages right up until the manga of today. I began to think to myself, why can’t I paint gay-art versions of these symbolic images? My concept is to take these representations and interpret them from a homo-erotic perspective.
Artist Profile: Born in 1973, Andonmaru didn’t take up painting until well into his 30s. A lover of Showa-era gag manga and stocky, bearded men, his works are filled with eroticism and humour.

Omatabiraki By Andonmaru

Hikyaku by Andonmaru

Sansukekagyo by Andonmaru

Sansuizu By Andonmaru

Takoage by Andonmaru