Bruce Hooke

The time of the man in the suit is over, at least in its traditional “man’s man” version. Yet even in the 21st Century many messages still tell men we’re supposed to be strong, assertive, in control: running the world, bending nature and other people to our will. More and more this path seems at best futile and at worst it leads to darkness and destruction.

I seek to understand what it means to be alive in this time, what it means to find new ways to relate to nature, and what it could mean to find new ways of thinking about the place of men and the male body in our world. How does it affect our thinking if a man is portrayed as vulnerable, exposed, close to nature, and even beautiful: the modes historically and still commonly used for the female nude? Can the naked male body be seen as anything other than threatening? I seek new ways of inhabiting my male body and I seek to change how we think about men and the male body in relationship with the natural and human realms.

bghooke.com