Started in December 2015, the Male Intensive Enquiry Unit (Male IEU) is a small group (max 6) of male artists who are focused on an intensive enquiry of the male body. The purpose is to use drawing from life to drive a scrutiny which is more critical and incorporates peer critique to
Brian Dennis led this meeting of the Unit. We also welcomed Francisco Gomez de Villaboa to the Unit for his first time. Using an assortment of lighting styles, including candles, transparent fabrics to enhance or disrupt the future. The short video here gives further idea stimulation. Working under candle light… Behind
Richard Dickson led this session of the Unit. Using the work of Antony Gormley as a starting point, the group viewed examples of his work and the preliminary sketches that he created when planning his sculptures. With this in mind we started with a drawing session examining the same pose from a
Chris Tasman James led this meeting of the Unit. A few days before Christmas, Chris brought us Jesus. A keen Instagrammer, we enjoyed the dialogue created between the subject and their own image projected onto them/backdrop. Three long poses…
Andres Canovas ran this session of the Unit. Here we are going to tackle the artist’s process of detaching himself from the art piece by trying to remove both his fingerprints and his subjectivity from his work. Detachment and objectification have been successfully explored by many artists and artistic movements through the
Jonathan Armour led this meeting of the Unit. It occurred to me that most of the members of Male IEU, including me, are products of colonial activity around the world, in most part by Britain. In this session, we are re-engaging with the social context for our work, to examine again
Brian Dennis led this meeting of the Unit. For this session we will be examining the concept of the Devil in art. In a slightly unusual approach, we would like to spend the first portion of the evening (30 minutes or so) discussing the development of the character of the Devil in art,
Chris Tasman James ran this meeting of the Unit. To explore three reoccurring approaches in the drawings of Lucien Freud: -Contouring with line -Vertical scanning and elongation -A view of the figure that peeks around the edges of the form and presents both views on the same plain Materials: Some
Richard Dickson led this session of the Unit. Twins – As a development from our reflective session when artists were asked to consider the figure and the reflected image we moved onto considering twin figures and the complimentary relationship between the forms. Having looked at historical examples of twins ranging from
Neil Groom led this meeting of the Unit. For this session we revisited an earlier theme of using the body as a structure and also relating it to the architectural structures found in an interior. We looked at Giacometti and the way he structurally frames his figures within a space and
Andres Canovas led this meeting of the Unit. This session deals with the representation of the male form through adornments, postures and protocol: THE GENTLEMAN, a figure that encapsulates the menace and power of manliness within the acceptability and safety of gentility. “Funny how the new things are the old things.” Rudyard
Jonathan Armour 