Copper Head's homoerotic fantasy drawings celebrate burly 'bears'

The pseudonymous artist Copper Head creates graphic works depicting hyper-masculine, hairy, and muscular men—often called 'bears' in gay culture—in a variety of erotic and ironic scenarios. His style is clean, black-and-white, and incisive, drawing on fantasy, mythology, and pop culture. Subjects range from Dungeons & Dragons-style warlocks to Mesopotamian bull gods, Icarus and Daedalus in an incestuous embrace, the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow, Wolverine, Bruce Willis in Die Hard, pirates, and even Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. The figures are often tattooed, horned, pierced, and unapologetically sexual, engaging in orgies or solitary pleasures. Copper Head likely hails from Italy and maintains anonymity on Instagram. The article was written by Ferruccio Giromini and published on Artribune in December 2024.