The Art of Etienne

At the HaPenis Project, we honour artists who helped redefine masculinity, sexuality, and visibility. One such revolutionary figure is Dom Orejudos, better known by his artistic alias, Etienne—a trailblazer in gay erotic art, whose work helped men feel proud of their desires in a time when being seen was dangerous. Born in Chicago in 1933, Orejudos was a classically trained ballet dancer, choreographer, and proud homosexual man. But it was through his pen name Etienne that he carved a unique space in the world of visual art. His drawings weren’t just erotic—they were revolutionary. Depicting leathermen, bikers, sailors, and working-class studs in intense moments of eroticism, Etienne’s work celebrated sex between men as something worthy of admiration, pride, and pleasure.

Etienne’s art went far beyond titillation. His thick lines and muscular bodies gave form to a visual language of liberation—one that said, “We are here, we are hard, and we will not apologise.”Each scene was lovingly rendered: sweat glistened, leather creaked, ropes tightened, and cocks—oh, the glorious, unapologetically thick cocks—rose up as monuments to male pleasure and power. His illustrations were about more than sex; they were about being unashamedly homosexual in every sense of the word. Etienne was also instrumental in the rise of gay leather culture. Alongside his life partner, Chuck Renslow, he co-founded the Gold Coast bar in Chicago—one of the first openly leather bars in the U.S.—and played a pivotal role in the creation of the Leather Archives & Museum. His art provided an identity for a generation of men who craved strength, dominance, and connection. Legacy and Lust. Dom Orejudos passed away in 1991 due to AIDS-related complications, but his legacy continues to throb in the world of queer art and sexual expression. Today, his work remains a symbol of erotic honesty, masculine beauty, and fearless pride. For the HaPenis Project, Etienne reminds us that there is no shame in desire. His men do not flinch. They flaunt. They fuck. And they represent a vision of homosexuality that is muscular, erotic, and deeply human.