Muscle Study 5

Muscle Study 5 is a charcoal drawing of a cropped male torso, as viewed from immediately before the body. The torso is cropped from the rest of the body and silhouetted against a dark field, and bears a tense pose with arms lifted and fists clenched. The model’s head is tilted upwards, and is subtly outlined.

Themes

This piece fits with the muscle study series – a group of works about bodybuilding and the process of physical transformation. These feature monochromatic drawings of various posing torsos – drawing of arm muscle and veining featuring prominently.

See this post – https://leedevonish.com/the-art-of-bodybuilding/ – for more on the themes surrounding this work.

“For some years I’ve been interested in the history of the male figure in Western art, but that’s not the main reason why I’ve started to make art about bodybuilding.

“It’s the actual process of transformation that I find interesting, and the determination behind that process.

“Bodybuilding is a process of wilfully transforming from one state to another through a violent process; it’s the ripping of muscle fibres on a minute scale that creates the need for the muscles to repair and grow. There’s a fascinating force of will that goes into trying to control one’s body and manipulate it into something it would not naturally become.

Materials

Charcoal on paper drawing, mounted to A4 size.

Size

The drawing is A5 size but is double matted to fit an A4 frame. With the mats, this measures 21 cm high and 15cm wide in total.

Framing

This item will be delivered unframed unless otherwise requested. See framing options in a separate listing.

Related works

This work relates closely to Fight as well as the rest of the Muscle Study series.