Melbourne, Australia-based ink and tattoo artist David Le Goon brings his own twists to shunga, Japanese erotic art produced during the Edo period (1600 to 1868).
In Le Goon’s hands, shunga becomes a celebration of gay people, in a spirit reminiscent of Tom of Finland. Here, Le Goon’s pieces become a shameless visual representation of gay love, pleasure and sexuality. These paintings not only help create representation for gay people within the art space, but can also help them overcome shame, reflecting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Reduced Inequalities.
Le Goon creates tattoo designs and watercolour and acrylic paintings on paper depicting gay men and their lovers. He is using shunga as a primary style; these were traditional erotic Japanese ink or woodcut paintings commonly found in hand scrolls and illustrated texts. True to Le Goon’s subject matter, shungas were known to be a medium in which female sexuality and homosexuality could be explored without restraint. In shungas, it was common to depict figures with exaggerated sexual organs or facial features to emphasize sexual pleasure, a feature that is also featured in Le Goon’s pieces.
Le Goon also pays homage to how shungas would frequently portray snippets of humorous life between sexual partners. This humour is palpable in an untitled piece, he has captioned “Slap some oil on me bb, let’s wrestle.” It depicts two men with their limbs awkwardly entangled, as if trying to use wrestling as a means for foreplay.
The men in Le Goon’s pieces are frequently portrayed in a gay leather aesthetic. Fetish fashion that utilizes leather straps, frequently found in gay clubs between the 1970s and 2000s. This was a style popularized by the late gay artist Tom of Finland, who also helped to popularize representations of gay men in art and pop culture.
Le Goon’s paintings are not only homages to shunga as an art style, but they also pay tribute to the purpose behind traditional shunga pieces. The primary use of shunga back in the day was to help provide young couples with sexual education, while also giving close friends or sexual partners a way to celebrate their sexuality visually.
By celebrating their sexuality, Le Goon’s pieces help people overcome gay shame, a deeply rooted feeling of shame and guilt that many gay men experience around their sexuality due to internalized societal prejudices. Therefore, Le Goon’s pieces that portray queer pleasure outright help gay men to embrace their authentic selves.
You can find out more about David Le Goon’s pieces by checking their Instagram on @davidlegoon.