YASS Magazine is bringing back the queer art Fridays! This time we interview and feature Richard Vice a queer art advocate who has shown at galleries in Manhattan and Honolulu. He has studied at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and taught at Pratt in Brooklyn. His art has been featured in many international art magazines and has inspired several LGBTQ+ people, leaving their mark on the queer art scene!
What is art for you?
Art is my fix, sanity and defines me to make my day! When I find inspiration a rush of adrenaline propels me to start creating. I go into a zone where nothing else matters. I am in my world of fantasy and sensuality.
How would you describe your work?
I create with a sensual sensitive contour line with energetic spontaneous brush strokes to capture a moment and a mood in Ink, watercolor or acrylics.
What do you like to draw mostly?
For many years I was a successful fashion illustrator for department store advertising and fashion magazines. In recent years I have gone from drawing women in clothes to men without. My total focus now is on my Man Art. Celebrating man in art is closer to my gay sensibility.
Who are your inspirations and favourite artists?
So many different artist and art inspire me and subconsciously influence my art. Some favorites are- John Singer Sargent a master watercolorist, Auguste Rodin drawings with watercolor, Franz Kline bold brushstrokes and Helen Frankenthaler for bleeds of color.
Do you follow a certain technique in your drawings?
I start with a contour line and add dry brushstrokes or flowing wash tones. I prefer Chinese ink for line and watercolor or acrylics for tones usually on 14”x17” paper.
Who are the people we see in your drawings?
My Man Art nudes do not exist except in my imagination and my art. They are an enhanced and idealized for the art. I recently started to do portraits in collaboration with guys from around the world. They must provide a selfie that inspires via the internet. They must have a look that I am interested in drawing but I do prefer to create an imagined man.
Have you drawn yourself naked?
No never! Not inspired I guess! I have done several self portraits of my face.
You have exhibited your work in galleries in Manhattan and Honolulu as well as being featured in many international art magazines. How do you feel about this success and how was the experience?
I have exhibited in galleries over the years and it is always exciting. I have been fortunate that my art has been in The Art of Man, Mascular UK, Jack the Lad UK, Character France and Noisy Rain magazine to name a few. Most magazines are online or hard copy or both. I am always excited to see the deluxe printed version.
What have been the best moments in your career?
There have been many but a highlight was signing my art on apparel and product tour in NYC,Chicago and LA. It was great to meet so many people enthusiastic about my art and to meet me.
Do you think homoerotic art is taboo-free now a day?
There has been more acceptance of gay art in certain areas but there is still a strong resistance to having it on the wall at home. The major museum still resist supporting the gay artist. Thank God there is the Leslie Lohman museum in Manhattan the the only one in the United States to support the LBGT artist and art.
Have social media helped your career?
Facebook,Instagram and the many gay art sites which I post my Man Art on regularly have been the major source of international sales of my art. The galleries have prestige but take longer for sales.
What are your future plans?
I am going to explore using different art materials which always changes the look of the art. I am also looking forward to my Man Art show at the Leslie Lohman Project Space in Manhattan in February 2019.
Tell us something about yourself we do not know.
I came to NYC to study art from Appleton,Wisconsin at sixteen.I studied at Fashion Institute of Technology and the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. I was a freelance fashion illustrator for Macy’s, Mademoiselle Trend Reports and other fashion magazines. I lived in Honolulu and did the fashion art ads for several fashion stores. I spent many days at the beach watching the surfers and the surf which In hindsight now appears in my art. I taught at Pratt in Brooklyn and SFD in Boston. I try to create art everyday and am sometimes surprised by what I have created not knowing earlier that day what I was going to do.
More of Rychard Vyse here:
http://www.instagram.com/artbyvyse
*all images are courtesy of Richard Vyse
YASS Magazine 