Since Walk-ins, Drake Carr's 2022 solo exhibition at New York Life Gallery, the artist has begun exhibiting a series of works on paper that collage gay erotica and ornate colored-pencil illustrations to create imaginative group portraits.

“I spend a lot of time searching for the right men in my magazines. I’m looking for characters with the right body language, facial expression, gaze, and level of hotness, weirdness, or something special. Once I’ve made my selection of men, I try to figure out their roles in the scenario, and that is when their character begins to develop,” Carr says of his collages. In Gay Bar Collage (The Closet Bar), these cut-out pin-ups from his collection of vintage erotica are arranged in a tableau through Carr’s reinterpretation of familiar nudie mag poses. Carr’s superimposed frilly garments (mostly) cover the men’s nakedness, though these embellished silhouettes only amplify their physiques. Cut from their individual spreads, these men are put into flirtatious conversation with one another and fashioned into a chimeric group portrait.

Drake Carr (b. 1993 Flint, Michigan) is an artist and illustrator based in New York City. He is known for his energetic figurative paintings, drawings, and sculptures which he has exhibited internationally. Carr has had solo exhibitions at FIERMAN (2024); Mariposa Drive (2024); Artists Space (2023); New York Life Gallery (2023); Situations/FIERMAN (2022); 0-0 L.A. (2019); and The Hole (2018). He has participated in group exhibitions at Marvin Gardens (2024); The Hole (2024, 2017); Nicodim Gallery (2023); Anat Ebgi (2021); and Karma International (2017). Carr's work has been published widely, including in Art in America, Artforum, Vogue, W Magazine, I-D, and Cultured, as well as Samuel Delany's novella Big Joe (Impatient Press).