Chris Lopez’s Hunky Bear Artwork Explores the Beauty of the Naked Male Body (NSFW)

Chris Lopez’s art is absolutely amazing. The 51-year-old Barcelona native has been making artwork his whole life, and it shows. Lopez is a multimedia artist — equally adept at painting, drawing, photography, fashion and design. Chris Lopez art.

Lopez started his art education when he was 8. He says, “Noticing an interest in the arts and weary of seeing me drawing everywhere, my parents decided to send me to children’s art school. … There I started to do my first oils on canvas and learned different techniques, making my first art sales to neighbors and relatives.”

After high school, he studied at the Pau Gargallo University in Barcelona for nine years, ultimately getting degrees in graphic design and illustration. He also studied photography and set design — which helps explain why his work is so masterful.

His earliest exhibitions were in Barcelona — including working on artwork for the 1992 Olympic Games. Though he’s a big fan of the European masters and has been exhibited all over the world, in 2001 he moved to the United States. He’s been living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ever since.

Photography

Lopez says his art is “all about light.” He explains, “The human form is just a pretext for me to manipulate light, and that’s always my main focus: light and the human form.” Looking at his work, you can definitely see that in the way he plays with light and shadow. It’s especially clear in his photography, whether he’s working in black-and-white or color.

And though he uses the male nude form almost exclusively, as Lopez says:

My artwork is not sexual, it’s not erotic, but, obviously naked men are erotic. My art is about beauty. It’s nothing that I’m excited or turned on about. I like to portray beauty, and, obviously, I like men, so that’s my concept of beauty. So, when the beauty starts to reach that area where it’s more sexual I feel weird. I’m like, “Oh my god, it’s getting hot!” It’s a fine line.

Painting

He often uses the same models in his paintings. One of our favorite series is his work on particle board. The texture and shape of the wood gives his images a broken, crystallized look that is reminiscent of some of Chuck Close‘s later work.

His canvas work often has a textured look as if he’s changing his models into marble sculpture. And Lopez’s watercolors add beautiful highlights to work that would otherwise be black and white.

Drawing

His drawings are photorealistic. They can be reminiscent of Drew Friedman‘s art, though Lopez doesn’t traffic in the parodic elements like Friedman. Whether working in graphite or charcoal, his work is stunning.

And, of course, if you enjoy this Chris Lopez art, you’ll be happy to know he also has a line of wearable art, including T-shirts and swimwear. His wearable art is reasonably priced — T-shirts usually go for $25-$30 and swimsuits are $55.

What was your favorite piece of Chris Lopez art? Will you be getting some hunky bear apparel to show off in the streets?

This article was originally published on January 27, 2021. It has since been updated.