GENE BILBREW REVEALED: The Unsung Legacy of a Fetish Art Pioneer: 1 (African American Artists)

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The next time he had sex, it was with a prostitute that his mother had sent because she was so concerned about him, and she didn’t want him to give up on women. Given the working relationship between the two artists in their studio—the kibitzing back and forth, the brainstorming about page layouts and plots— what Seves suggests is entirely plausible.

In addition to signing his work with his own name, he drew under a range of pseudonyms, including Eneg (“Gene” spelled backwards), Van Rod, and Bondy.Says Seves: “One could only imagine how gratifying Ditko’s presence must have been to Stanton after his time with Grace; from being around someone who was repulsed by art to being around someone whose very waking moment was consumed by it. We build and maintain all our own systems, but we don’t charge for access, sell user information, or run ads.

Klaw, self-named the "Pin-up King," was a merchant of sexploitation, fetish, Hollywood glamour pin-up photographs, and underground films. Seves quotes Ditko about the full-face mask: “I did it because it hid [Peter Parker’s] obviously boyish face. Ditko also notably inked and was associated with Eric Stanton, the other - and most famous - underground fetish artist who was Gene's main artistic competition and also admirer. Tracing his life from childhood in Los Angeles to his vocal group days with The Mellow Tones and the Basin Street Boys, to his sudden rise as a “bizarre art” rebel in New York City, GENE BILBREW REVEALED presents a vibrant overview of his work for renegade publishers Irving Klaw, Leonard Burtman, Edward Mishkin and Stanley Malkin, while also exploring his sometimes contentious, love-hate relationship with fellow art pioneer Eric Stanton. Then, quickly, as if not to offend his old pal in absentia, “but the whole thing was created by Steve on his own.

All 48 pages were half text and half simply wonderful ‘Gilbert' art (it wasn't until years later that I discovered that Bilbrew was the real artist).