Victorjohnart.com has been live for a few weeks now, and I thought that this post would be the perfect moment to formally say "Hello!". Here you will find examples of my work, old and new, as well as updates of the goings on in my life. Writing has always offered me a way to catalogue my thoughts, experiences, and obsessions. My hope is that, over the course of time, this blog may yield a greater perspective on the inspirations that fuel my creative process.

​As we trudge forward into the summer (and head into the 4th of July holiday weekend) I am sharing this image of my alter-ego “Victor Pump” posing before the iconic Flag (1954) by Jasper Johns. Liberty has taken on many permutations in this new era of the “Free” world. As a gay man, I choose to imbue my work with a renegade spirit that knows no boundaries. I intend to use this space as an outlet to exercise my creative freedom, however it may occur.

​For more images of Victor Pump, click here.

NYC’s yearly Pride celebrations never disappoint. Rarely do you get a chance to see the NYPD, FDNY, local cultural and political leaders sharing space and rubbing elbows with the sexually liberated (and sometimes half-dressed) denizens of Gotham as you do on the final weekend in June. This year I took to the streets with my eggplant Emoji necklace serving equal parts hood and kitsch. The following images were taken along the parade route as well as at a few pit stops along our path. For your pleasure, I have also included a customized gay pride bitmoji version of myself! For more images from my daily happenings, follow me on Instagram. 

One of the most fun aspects of Pride month (which is in full swing here in NYC) is the amount of visitors that begin to appear on the dating apps. Pablo from Uruguay has come to town just for the parade; Dimitri casually dropped in from Moscow with the hopes of attending Folsom Street East, but decided to stay in town and taste the rainbow a little longer. Grindr, Growlr, and Scruff (to name a few) have become, for better or worse, a town square of sorts in the gay community. “Networking” could lead to any number of things — tonight’s conquest, a new roomie, a new bestie, maybe even a new body groomer!

​Over the past few years, my own experience on dating sites has been nothing short of revelatory. I have, at times, felt like an anthropologist bearing witness to and cataloging what feels like the infinite permutations of male sexuality. "Friends, Conversation, Trucker, No Strings Attached, Boy, Love, Versatile, Pup, PrEP, HIV+..." — affection à la carte has never been so easy. Discreet is a series of portraits I made inspired by several profile pics of dudes that caught my eye, yet remained on the DL in their primary image. For more images from this series, click here. 

The phenomenon that is “The Babadook” has me mesmerized. How did the titular demon from the 2014 Australian horror film become an icon of the Queer agenda in Pride month 2017?! Articles online offer likely theories, some more highfalutin than others. The one that I latch onto the most is Netflix’s own misclassification of the movie as a Gay and Lesbian piece. “Because you liked ‘Paris is Burning’, check out ‘The Babadook’ (!!!). As affronting as the concept of a dapper Aussie poltergeist turned Queer Icon may be, I do appreciate the idea that this thing is NOT going away. It’s here, and perhaps Queer, so get used to it! This is my Queer Pride Babadook piece in progress. For more of my pop icon portraits, click here. Happy Pride!