BELLO
CONTAINS SEXUALLY
EXPLICIT IMAGES
Must be 18+ or older to view
Audience discretion advised
A Photography Series
Bello is the 5th series of the KitaraROKU Canvas Print CuLLECTION.
It is the second instalment to the stage 2 art progression since its Here Fauna series release of May this year.
Perspective of sexual liberation, unlimitedness by men's socially bestowed birth right and
a unifying message of men's captivating entrancement.
Bello series is inspired by reclaiming the manhood of the KitaraROKU artist John (Emmanuel ) Batica by way of appreciating the roughness, intesity and strength of the male form while staying true to the full potential of what the definition of a man can possibly be.
Dear Flora, Here Fauna and Bello altogether serves to challenge the misconception of what can be considered as acceptable mediums of art in this current 2024 era of accessible and flourishing world of artistry. By use of photography, Dear Flora was created fully as digital drawings, Here Fauna was artistically transformed by the use of digital filters, and Bello stands to become an examination of photography as a main legitimate creditation of art in today's universally accessible world of digital photos and videography.
1st KitaraROKU series to categorize the CuLLECTION in distinguishable set lists and comprehensive overall theme of gay male sexual security.
SET LIST goes as follows:
1. Instrumental
2. Unexpected Takes Shape
3. No Undoing 001
4. Colour Blind
5. Purple Afternoon
6. Radiate Exceptionally Beyond
7. Amore
8. Tesoro
Bello series will be available in the KitaraROKU Main Store upon this release on December 21st, 2024; KitaraROKU's 3rd year anniversary. S.K.I.N. (18+) members, beginning January 25th, 2025, will be able to enjoy Bello Series: the Auxiliary Edition through The Vault: An Exclusive Members Only Online Gallery and purchase with the optional use of a Members Promotional Discount Code in the Exclusive Members Store.
INSTRUMENTAL
Happenstance created a flourish of idealism about masculinity and the male form. The KitaraROKU artist John (Emmanuel) Batica uses kaleidoscope configurations from one single vantage point allowing a variation of different spatial fictional structures to take place in a small cramp room creating multiple moods of themes and settings as the artist conveys secured masculinity further into the next piece.
Ciao Bello.
”I saw beauty and strength in being a man once again.” After Here Fauna, there was much need to rebalance my sense of self. As I was combing through my past, it had became clear that I have always perceived myself as a man, no matter what sexual orientation, straight, gay and/or non-binary. I have always felt right inside my body, and it was time to celebrate what I am again.
With the use of only one angle, a breakthrough into a world of
infinite spatial kaleidoscope dreams.
The KitaraROKU artist becomes merely instrumental to the illusive world around him. The Instrumental Set ignites the inspiration for the entire Bello Series theme of male strength and entrancement.
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UNEXPECTED TAKES SHAPE
A play on full form of the male form and vulnerability. This set is predominantly an exercise of the ornate statistical variations of the kaleidoscope configurations. With one vantage point used to capture each shot, the more ornate and far removed do the pieces transform, setting them apart from Instrumental which focused more towards the situated reality of the setting as opposed to a dream like state in which surpasses convincing the viewer of its plausibility as another modern space.
With the complexity it takes to operate as a man in a world that has an expectation of machismo and aggression. Unexpected Takes Shape becomes representative of the dynamics of the male experience through an open insight of masculine vulnerability and a classical view of the male form in a different body and race.
This set inspires the running theme of Italian classical antiquities with moods of an unembellished simplicity in contrast to the mathematical use of symmetry to create different imagery.
What I first saw was the space around me. It had reminded me of a worn down rustic European bathroom. It was the lighting, the contrast of green and red with the caramel walls, that drew me to wonder and compare it to a room with paint peeling of the walls. It was the kind of romanticism that always attracted me to a mediterranean setting. This becomes the running theme of classical views of the male form but with my racial background. One that I’ve never seen adorn the great walls and churches of Europe let alone the rest of the modern world.
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NO UNDOING 001
The first addition in the No Undoing ongoing theme, steps out of the complexity of kaleidoscope dreams and becomes situated into the real world only through photography and with the use of black & white contrast to the artist’ presence.
This set stands for the need to fully embrace the decisions that came along with choosing to step into the art itself as the subject of focus, with the historical life background and context of what KitaraROKU really stands for. No Undoing stamps the date in which the artist chose a life of uncharted art world over everything he had, only to chase a new dream unbeknownst to him.
This set means to create a simplistic view of a man’s presence in the world. Done with only a colour selection of the body and surrounding objects that reflect the essence of mankind is rooted in the form of human existence. No Undoing 001 becomes a stance on men’s no nonsense need to become more than what he is to be, a man. There lies the caveat of this series, that to reclaim masculinity when it was never lost to begin with.
No Undoing 001 was personally a defining moment in which I felt it was important to showcase the place where I had changed this past year; I had to reconnect with my manhood and to become my own person again. Though, a never ending journey, it was necessary for me to dwell within myself and to find my inner strength and courage without another individual’s help. Decisions were made and I made them for myself.
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COLOUR BLIND
Bello’s challenge of using only photography as the medium to legitimize art was turned on its head when making Colour Blind. Are black & white photographs enough to consider it art? Is that something amiss in the world of artistic merit in which a photo in this era must have some sort of picturesque conceptualization for it to be art. The artist John (Emmanuel) captures this set outdoors behind a common backyard in which he uses his sexuality to ward off any ideas about his masculinity. With an intense and aggressive look in his face he uses his body to defend any misconceptions about his manhood; creating a vulnerable yet confrontational machismo moment with the viewer.
The Bello Series is the emergence of Emmanuel as a driving force in the vantage point whereby depicting the artist’s life as a subject matter was important to speak to sexual abuse from 28 years ago. Emmanuel as the true form of JB has repressed much anger towards his abuser and the world’s judgement upon his sexual orientation which was never and ever be his choice. This set is summarized is born out of
Emmanuel’s ideas of unfair revictimization.
Colour Blind is a sexually explicit set on purpose to reinstate the artist’s view on his manhood that nevertheless of his sexual history, he has always seen himself as a man; traumatized gay man; non-binary or otherwise.
The intention behind this set was clear for me, I had been under scrutiny of being gay meanwhile having the energy and aura of a straight boy. It was frustrating for me as I have always viewed myself as a boy no matter what sexual orientation I had. It had never occurred to me that Emmanuel was a completely different side of myself that I didn’t contemplate. As my attempt to do Here Fauna which is unapologetically feminine and tasteful in its execution and style. The true masculine side of my inner being, Emmanuel, ego got bruised by criticisms and so forth this set was inevitable. If in the music industry there are what are known to be “dis” tracks, this is my “dis” art set, with much vulgarity, it means to say “SUCK MY DICK” to all the oppositions; it’s such a boy’s territorial expression.
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PURPLE AFTERNOON
This set further reinforces Colour Blind whereby it is executed through an exhibitionist perspective. Purple Afternoon is conceptually about arriving home to a man waiting patiently all day for his partner to come home from work. A routine that the artist know very well. It’s a play on the comparatives of a traditional female wife whereby personal needs become suppressed and given lesser priorities to the dominant male partner’s desires and dreams.
Purple Afternoon also alludes to the colour of the future, purple, as domestic partners tend to live in stuck unhappy situations for a certain sizeable amount of time before fully realizing their reality. The Bello theme is thereby the artist’s experience in reclaiming his role as a man of responsibilities not to the virtue of patience that typically involved deriving one’s happiness completely from another.
This set really reflects the daily routine of my life for the past 14 years. I had become second to another’s desires and intentions. It was always bending my needs and wants to someone else’s ambitions and requirements. It was my fault though. To have made it possible to be a waiting pet and focus my happiness on another person when self love was the more enduring of the two. Purple Afternoon’s immediate perspective is to come home to a person that cares and loves you which traditionally was a female’s role, but in this case becomes my responsibility and reality for my two long term relationships.
With the use of the colour purple, the artist transforms the surrounding background into a mesmerizing state of purple corporeal fantasy contrast to the subject himself. The colour purple is to represent the future, however, without immersing the subject into the colour palate, he becomes stuck in a repetitive routine that only intensify the repressed and neglected parts of himself.
Performing an exhibitionist shoot with the front door open, the artist allows you into his life of patiently waiting behind closed doors as a domestic partner awaits for his loved one to return home from day’s work. This set reflects the past 14 years of John’s life being in two long term relationships in which loyalty and monogamy had been pillars of his commitment, attempting to perfect the requirement of a good partner. All the while, undergoing sexual suppression of self discovery from age 17 to 33.
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RADIATE EXCEPTIONALLY BEYOND
“Live outside of Death” is the inspiration for this set. With the use of Kaleidoscope configuration, the artist for the last time in this series emphasize the similarities, if not identical properties, of men in relation to each other. The artist uses an outdoor setting to state that men once belonged in the wilderness where the very nature that created the ideas and prolonged psychology of men were born out of. Social Constructions are reexamined as forms of greed, envy, and marginalization becomes apparent when entering social expectations. One that still remains prevalent in human behaviourism as individuals transition from public and private spheres.
Bello as well as Here Fauna became supplemented with Spiritual and Religious text. To my rationality I had begin to linger around the biblical idea of the Garden of Eden and the original sin. It was then that it had come to my attention that the very first thing that the Christian-Judeo God had said to Adam and Eve after they broke his command is “Who told you, you were naked?!” Shame and guilt was not part of God’s plan, they were the products of the original sin and it’s something that has been around for ages, and can be exhibited when we study tribal groups enter into the modern world. Their ideas of living undergo a complete crash course of human progression that took centuries to define social norms. Shame and guilt of the haves and have nots become apparent. Discovery that they have been living in such a sheltered and tiny perception of the world make them ashamed of where they came from and completely abandon their life of simplistic content. I wanted to go back to Eden.
The title of this set speaks to the natural fit of man in this world; that for a man to be a man, he must only adhere to being a man. There is a quote that goes “A man doesn’t need to know how to be a man, he just is.” For men have long walked this earth as he belongs in it. This set is meant to say live outside of death. And, perhaps back into nature where mankind are born out of and sent back to in the end.
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AMORE
With the use of stacking frames on top of another, this set depicts the many facial expressions that the artist convey; at many times confusing others of his identity. Amore shows that nevertheless the individual exists as one beyond the superficial. Crudely done, this is the first inspiration for the later works of FRAMES whereby compiling still shots results into a new suggested narrative. Here, Amore becomes a study of time consequential to changes in the human psyche. The set is also focused on self assurance as the many figures seek to find a trace of self confidence.
The relationship between the artist and his hair is a not so secret form of love language. The artist conveys his frustration with his hair always falling out of place as if to indicate imperfection and inner insecurities about letting go. The artist knew quite early on that hair is temporary in his family and as a man it is daunting thought to have as a young child. For most men, hair is a source of confidence, identity and even self assurance.
Amore is a prelude to the Frames CuLLECTION to be released in January 25th, 2025. Frames is the development from Amore and quite a departure from its conception.
When I first made Amore, I did it as part of a creative take on what else I might be able to do to make art possible. What other forms of art can I make from the materials of content that I have? I first thought of Amore as sort of paper dolls, cut out construction paper, just to place them into an array of fantastical situation. Amore was about self love that masculine men tend to deny themselves, however, the two are linked. Amore is about my obsession with my hair, the only way I ever splurge on myself, is a good haircut. I have as well known that I am nothing without my hair, I’ve shaved my head when I was in grade 9 or 10 and it was no shock at how unattractive I felt.
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TESORO
Tesoro easily becomes an examination of pop art and social media as the three pieces are made to be a collage of four images combined, it drives the question once more, is photography alone still a legitimate form of art? And how so? Is the quality the point, or the overall message and what defines good photography? Concepts or technique? A balance of both or a pure subjective field where photography is left to the viewer to decide its merit. Where does the artist’s point of view lie solely independent from external forces of opinion?
The purpose of this set was to give a nod to secured confident men who do not feel the need to be the peak of masculine standards. This set depicts the artist in a casual demeanor as he wears an oversized jacket and underwear outdoors making references to the 90’s and as well as Euro-Italian menswear.
Tesoro has multiple meanings but for the interest of this art set, it means a term of endearment: darling. This set reverberates with the artist speaking the word darling towards the viewer or any other figures outside the frame which then brings in the tone of a respectable male’s masculinity into the art evolving the perception of the work itself.
It was a rainy cloudy day here in Vancouver. CA when I shot this set. I was sluggish, lethargic, and depressed. I had no energy to be in front of a camera; with which then gave way to a more natural and effortless shoot. It’s always when I try that I end up looking too forced or intense, but when I just let it be and don’t try too hard, I find my candid and genuine self in the photos I end up liking the most. Tesoro was meant to defy against male beauty standards as I display my big stomach that I had carried over from last fall/winter. I underwent the transition from Papa Emmanuel to just plain Emmanuel and it all began with the Bello Series.
Arrivederci Tesoro
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