Spartacus, queer hero? 🧐

Published over 1 year ago • 1 min read

The Queer Quantum Dispatch

Making your world a little less straight.

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Darlings, how are you? Looking fabulous, as always.

You may have heard me mention recently an idea for a new, large scale historical painting based on the figure of Spartacus. I love looking forward to better, if imagined, futures. I love looking inward through surrealism. And, I love looking to the past for insights about the here and now. That last category is what we’ve got here.

I’ve captured all my ravings influences in a lovely blog post, complete with pictures! To say I’m somehow “reclaiming” Spartacus would not be accurate. He doesn’t belong to anyone—gay or straight. Also, as discussed in last week’s dispatch about Bad Gays, placing our current terms and concepts on historical figures is a dicey prospect. While it’s an amazing thought experiment from which we can learn oodles, it is not truth or certitude or in any way definitive.

sketch of gladiator sword and helmet being overcome by vines concept sketch showing ecstatic ritual with naked people

Some sketching that explores possible spiritual themes in the work.

Consider this the beginnings of a big, luscious thought experiment. I'm still in the preparatory phase and like to give these things the proper amount of love and attention they deserve.

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Capture your timeless, erotic joy in paint.

Full figure, erotic commissions.

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Until next time, flame on! 🔥

This has been the Queer Quantum Dispatch, brought to you by artist Edward Ficklin. If you enjoyed it, smash the forward button and share the love. 💖 If you got this from a friend (and what a friend!) subscribe for more!

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100 Park Terrace West, 1A, New York, NY 10034
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Edward Ficklin (he/him), the maverick artist not afraid to say gay, is dedicated to creating erotic art as a pathway to liberation for all. His surrealist work centers the nude figure exploring its own delights, ranging from the sensual to the ecstatic. In defiance of the societal forces attempting erasure by legislation, algorithm, or so-called “community” standards, he delights viewers with imagery of sex and body positivity. His paintings have appeared in NYC galleries like Foley Gallery and the SoHo Project Space, national exhibitions dedicated to erotic art such as CLAW Leather Getaway Kinky Art Show and Tucson Erotica, and numerous naughty, but high quality, publications like Erotic Edges, Doable Guys, and Dirty Little Drawings. He likes his martinis straight up, with a twist, and, of course, made with gin. He adores the grit, freedom, and wild unpredictability of urban existence and continues, likely to the grave, attempts to get that orchid plant to bloom again.