Among the pantheon of great gay fetish artists – Tom, Etienne, The Hun – Joseph Cameron Fifield, or as we came to know him, REX, was in his own league.
His work recognizable for the fetish but also for the commercial, having worked as a fashion illustrator at one point. Posters he designed for bars like Mineshaft and Rawhide are both iconic branding and Leather canon. Like his contemporaries he changed and shaped the leather scene, keeping it squarely in the dark where men did the stuff they weren’t supposed to.
Sadly, we lost him this past March. In thinking about what to say that hasn’t been said and how to say it, it became obvious no one was better suited than the man himself, as evidenced in an email he once sent to his close friend Mike Fell. Mike in turn shared with us, simply prefacing it with, “Here is Rex’s life summed up in his own words:”
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“A friend of mine who has known me all my life, once said to me, “Rex, you’ve had a life other men only dream of.” Imagine if you will what kind of man could create work so profoundly disturbing and magnetic at the same time. How does one get to this point, so consistently and for so long with no break in continuity over a half-century? You can’t plan a life like mine apart from being in the right place at the right time. In a very real sense I have one-on-one sex with my “viewers.” And like sex in real life, you can’t fake it–your partner (or viewer in my case) [will] pick up immediately when you’re “faking it.” There are several scenes I never draw, because I’ve not had enough experience–or interest–to feel I’m in a position to lecture about how they should act or think (which is what ALL porno does–sets an example by demonstrating the possibilities of the unthinkable). I respect my limitations. Like an actor, some “scripts” presented to them just aren’t right for the scope of their talent. I choose my scripts very carefully and steer clear of those where I’m out of my depth. I may draw for only one man in a million out there somewhere, but I know he’s out there, and that “this drawing” is what he wants. When he’s old enough to “discover it,” it will be out there waiting for him. As for the other million out there who “don’t get it” I must say, “kid this isn’t a drawing about you, but about the guy out there that is into it.” This accounts for the odd perception many people have that my work is “humorous.” Well, it’s humorous only to those who aren’t initiated into that fetish or who are so sexually inexperienced it’s inconceivable to them “people actually do these things.” But for that one-half-of one-percent into THAT scene, the image is spot on and not a laughing matter. I’ve had so many middle-aged men come up to me and “reverently” say, “I saw one of your drawings when I was 18 years old and it changed my life!” Well, isn’t that what art’s supposed to do?
These drawings are a kind of Venus flytrap for the mind. You start out with the premise you are going to show something that will shock–something the viewer instinctively does “not want to see” or claims they have “no interest in.” So you set a visual trap to lure your prey. I like to think of these drawings as visual bait. This is done thru the technical tour-de-force which serves to disorient the viewer right off the bat with the unexpected quality of the work: ‘Ugh, This is ugly! I don’t want to look at this disgusting thing!’ So the curtain-riser to the drawing is initially to dismiss it because it’s “not what I’m into.” But somehow you are drawn back to re-examine the image because “I can’t believe what I saw, let me look at it again.” Oh, never look back, because that’s where I say “Gotcha.” Because when you go back and re-examine a scene you definitely don’t like, you start getting distracted by a detail that you didn’t notice the first time, but seems oddly unexpected or out of place: a cigarette butt on the floor, a crushed beer-can, an overturned ash-tray. The problem is these cigarette butts on the floor are so exquisitely drawn, so “real” in their own right, you get distracted and begin to “suspend disbelief” and fall deeper into the “fantasy” presented to you. It’s just a fantasy, because this could never happen. Well, not this way at least. And yet, if the cigarette butt is so real, then so must–OMG–the rest of this scene might just be real too. And the closer I look, the more “things” I see in this picture I hadn’t noticed the second time around; the more disoriented I get as to what’s REALLY going on here. Somewhere at least; maybe this sort of thing does really go on. No, I don’t want to think of “that” because it’s dirty . . . and because it’s disgusting–and yet–never so beautifully presented as here. All those overflowing ashtrays–SO REAL. And, all these “unnecessary” distractions like dogs sleeping in corners and tenements outside a window, soon have you “wanting” to believe this is true; this “could be” happening and maybe–in the silence of my room with a hit of poppers–YES It definitely is REAL! Every dot, every shadow seduces and overwhelms by the unvarnished truth of that cigarette on the floor, and the obvious “conviction” of whomever was twisted enough to do this drawing, helps convince me that SUCH THINGS DO EXIST. And I begin to wish they did for me too. After the popper rush fades and “shame” rushes back in, the fact still remains that drawing took you someplace you’d never been before, or thought you ever wanted to be–if only for a moment. You may never do “that,” but you will never forget that drawing–or that cigarette butt–and will go back to it time and time again letting your imagination run wild hoping one day that this mystery will one [day] happen to you.
“ never get tired of hearing “Rex I love to jack-off to your art.” It is the ultimate compliment for me hearing that I was the reason – it is like having one-on-one sex with my fans. Sometimes, I daydream that a hundred years from now horny men will view my art, become excited and blow the biggest loads. How great of a legacy would that be……”
– Rex 2020
Author: Darkqwolf, Rex
Photo Credit: Rex