Marc DeBauch’s paintings occupy an unruly territory where homoerotic fantasy, mythology, religion, nature and the artist’s imagination intermingle. His naked figures, almost always sexually aroused, appear as angels, satyrs, gods, lovers, fantastical creatures, or simply men enjoying each other’s company, while elaborate landscapes and richly imagined settings give the paintings a distinctly dreamlike quality. The eroticism can be playful and humorous as well as intensely sensual, and DeBauch is particularly fond of giving familiar cultural and religious imagery an unexpected twist.

His materials are equally varied. He has worked in oils on canvas, graphite and gouache, combining a highly accomplished understanding of anatomy with a fascination for texture, colour and the physical presence of the human body. ‘I paint images that reflect my taste in men,’ he explains, adding ‘I paint the male form as if I’m caressing the skin with my brush.’

The paintings selected here demonstrate just how broad his visual imagination can be – winged figures inhabit celestial spaces, mythological beasts mingle with human forms, lovers appear within idyllic landscapes, and elaborate group scenes turn erotic fantasy into something approaching theatre. Across them all DeBauch’s fascination with the male body remains unmistakable, but it is nearly always just one element within a larger world of fantasy, symbolism and visual invention. His own description of his practice perhaps sums it up best – ‘I create sensual and erotic images to illustrate the mysterious, the occult, the forbidden.’