feature: Ignacio Aramburu

May 9

Ignacio Aramburu (AKA Ignacio Bustos) was born in Mexico City, trained as an artist in Dublin, then began showing his work in Argentina. His style, which he calls "Pop Realism" because it straddles the line between realism and cartoon, occupies the darker end of the emotional spectrum where desperation, fear, and hopelessness give way to anarchy and sexual debauchery. Despite the grittiness of the subject matter, his technique and palette channel a playful charm. When combined with his elbowing wit, the result seems to forcefully insist that if we have to watch the world burn (quite a few of his paintings depict popular churches engulfed in flames), we may as well have a fucking good time doing it.

Your Work in Five Words or Less?
Sexual, colorful, apocalyptic, modern and provocative.

Queer Credentials?
I live openly as a gay man and i produce homoerotic artworks. My sexuality has played a big role in how i relate to the world. I would say my most remarkable contribution to queer art is probably my 2020 homoerotic series #sexemergencia2020. It explores gay and alternative sexualities, fetishism and sex during the pandemic in apocalyptic settings with images full of gas masks, bright neon colours and god-like superheroes of sex.

Turn Ons:
Painting of course! I also love spending time with friends, traveling, and parties.

Turn Offs:
Double Standards.

Art Crush:
At the moment I've got a big crush on Otto Dix. I'm in love with the daring aesthetics of his art, and the way he depicted the moment of history he lived in. He has been such an inspiration to me.

Personal Crayon Color:
Neon Yellow. It gives my work a perfect feel of modern times. It has that feeling of danger, radioactivity, and biohazard.

Ideal place to display your work:
Nowadays, online.

Favorite non-art pastime:
I love to go on long walks.

First Memorable Art Project :
I don't have a specific one, but I do remember as a child that to draw used to always be like a game for me.

Most of our favorite work of Aramburu’s is too erotic for the public pages of dandy. Please take the time to visit his work in the adult-verified gallery section to get a stronger sense of his interest and style.