With His New Series of BDSM Paintings, Ricardo Fumanal Wants to Turn You On

Earlier this month, on a quiet corner off the Canal Saint-Martin, I climbed four flights to the home studio of Ricardo Fumanal. The sun-drenched apartment—part bedroom, part atelier—is stripped to its essentials: a bed, a worktable, thick, primary-colored carpets, and mirrored walls that catch the Parisian light. Cozy yet airy, it’s a space that hums with a quiet sweat and intimacy and serves as a fitting backdrop for Fumanal’s new series of oil paintings: hyper-controlled yet unabashedly erotic vignettes, cropped denim groins, zipped leather, biker gear, pitched somewhere between Al Pacino’s sweaty paranoia in Cruising and the gleaming fetish of a Fast & Furious garage. Over black coffee, the Spanish artist and I spoke about fantasy, Tom of Finland, and about bringing his new body of work to Los Angeles, where Theorem of Desire is now on view at Giovanni’s Room in collaboration with @HomoCommunist.

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MITCHELL NUGENT: Thanks for having me over today. These new works are so striking. Desire, fetish, power—when did you first realize those were your artistic language?

RICARDO FUMANAL: When I was working as an illustrator, one of my first projects was illustrating a sex blog for El Mundoof, one of the biggest newspapers in Spain. It became an important theme of my work from there.  

NUGENT: And it clearly stuck. Do you remember the first time you visited a hypersexual space like a leather bar, or saw an erotic artwork like a Tom of Finland drawing?

FUMANAL: [It was at] the Eagle in Madrid in my early twenties. At first, I initially felt a mix of emotions, like intimidation and vulnerability. I was turned on but also a bit confused. Questioning like, “Is this the place for me? What are the rules and codes and the power dynamics?” But it encouraged my curiosity to feel more confident and comfortable experimenting and in charge of my sexuality in a more powerful way.  

NUGENT: And that comfort and power is very prevalent in your work. You draw with pencils and you paint with oils. Why such classical techniques for such contemporary subjects? 

FUMANAL: I like classical techniques because they allow me to have a direct, physical relationship with the work. I think it’s exciting to create something contemporary using traditional methods, especially in a time when we’re surrounded by technology. Maybe these techniques help [create] some distance and understand the contemporary from a more reflective place. About three years ago, I started to feel limited by drawing with pencil. I knew I needed to evolve, and that meant returning to oil painting. Painting with oil allows me to translate ideas and emotions in a more sensual and expressive way.

NUGENT: This new series dives into leather and BDSM. Is it about fantasy or autobiography? 

FUMANAL: It’s a blend of both fantasy and autobiography, but mostly rooted in my personal experiences as a gay man and my desires. The male form, uniforms, and the leather aesthetic serve as symbols and expressions of identity, power, and intimacy. Through this series, I explore both imagined fantasies and real emotions, reflecting on how these elements shape my sense of self and relationships.

NUGENT: Sportswear and underwear: what makes those everyday garments so erotic for you? 

FUMANAL: These garments are in direct contact with the body—they absorb sweat, effort, and energy. Something intimate, almost invisible, is left in them. Underwear evokes the private and the sexual, while sportswear, to me, suggests control, discipline, and strength. Both carry a latent erotic charge that I find compelling to explore visually.

NUGENT: Take me into your process of creating the paintings. What’s that like from start to finish? 

FUMANAL: I usually work on very small formats. Most of my works have been about the size of a book, something you can easily hold in your hands. For this project, I wanted to explore a different scale. Working with a medium format allowed me to face technical challenges—subtle but significant—that I don’t encounter in smaller pieces. At the same time, I wanted the emotional experience of my work to be felt in a more powerful, prominent way.

NUGENT: Do you think fetish objects like chaps, zippers, and boots say more about us than the body itself? 

FUMANAL: Yes. A piece of clothing or an object can be even more sensual than the body because they act as extensions and symbols. They not only complement or transform the body, but also function as shields that protect or reveal hidden aspects of our identity. These objects carry deep stories about social roles, intimate rituals, power hierarchies, and personal desires, becoming vehicles of communication and expression far more complex than the body alone.

NUGENT: Without any faces in these works, the fashionable and fetish elements drip with sexiness. How much do you want the viewer to feel turned on when they look at your paintings? 

FUMANAL: The more, the better, of course. [Laughs] I put my work out there hoping to create a deep connection with the viewer, and if someone feels that intensity—whether it’s arousal, curiosity, or something more personal—I feel truly grateful. 

NUGENT: I am very grateful. In your work, masculinity is both performed and undone. What’s your own relationship with masculinity? 

FUMANAL: My relationship with masculinity is complex and ever-changing. Sometimes I perform it consciously, exploring its limits and stereotypes, and other times I question or undo it to make room for new ways of being and feeling. For me, masculinity is not fixed or monolithic, but a construct that can be constantly reinvented and challenged.

NUGENT: Would you say that your paintings are private fantasies or public provocations? 

FUMANAL: Both. They begin as private explorations of my ideas and desires in the studio, but once they’re on canvas and shown in a gallery or online, I hope they provoke a reaction in the viewer. For me, art is a form of dialogue, and I’m interested in how these images can generate different emotions and reflections in each person.

NUGENT: What was it like collaborating with Giovanni’s Room and HomoCommunist on the show? And what does it feel like bringing the works to to L.A.? 

FUMANAL: It has been an incredible experience—I feel we really understood each other. Jeremy Maldonado, Giovanni’s Room’s founder, has been a tremendous support, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to present my first solo show with him. HomoCommunist’s work also plays a crucial role in contextualizing mine, and perhaps it’s in this dialogue between the three of us that the collaboration becomes most complete. I’m also really excited to show in L.A.—it’s my first time exhibiting here, and it feels like the perfect city to present this series of work.

NUGENT: These works are made for all the glitter and grease of Hollywood. Do you think queer imagery is still subversive once it’s on a gallery wall? 

FUMANAL: There’s a tension between visibility and assimilation, between resistance and acceptance. For me, the subversion lies not only in the imagery itself but in the ongoing dialogue it opens around identity, desire, and power structures. Through my work, I aim to keep questioning and disrupting conventional frameworks, ensuring that queer narratives remain dynamic and resistant, regardless of the setting.

NUGENT: [Rainer Werner] Fassbinder, Tom of Finland, leather clubs: your references are very 20th century. What feels queer to you now in 2025? 

FUMANAL: Ethel Cain, Salman Toor, Pedro Pascal, Addison Rae, Guitarricadelafuente, Teckel dogs, Luca Guadagnino, Los Javis, Lisa Rinna, Wolfgang Tillmans!

NUGENT: The Addison Rae concert at La Villette was wild. The body in your work is sometimes there and sometimes absent. Which is sexier? 

FUMANAL: In this new series of paintings, I chose not to show the body or skin at all. Instead, I let the texture of the clothing, the leather, and the mechanics of the motorbike carry the tension and the sensuality. For me, the absence of the body creates a space where desire is suggested rather than explicit, allowing the imagination to fill in the gaps. Sometimes what’s hinted at, the traces and materials, can be even sexier than what’s fully revealed.

NUGENT: You’ve suggested intimacy is about power negotiation. In your own life, do you prefer to be in charge or give it up? 

FUMANAL: Playing the same role all the time quickly becomes monotonous. In my life, some days I take control, and other days I surrender willingly. For me, power is at its most exciting and dynamic when it’s constantly shifting and being negotiated between us. 

NUGENT: A laborious way of telling us your versatile. [Laughs] Let’s finish off with some rapid-fire questions. What do you love about L.A.? 

FUMANAL: The palm trees.

NUGENT: What do you hate about L.A.? 

FUMANAL: To be in a car all the time.

NUGENT: Leather or lace?

FUMANAL: Leather.

NUGENT: The first crush you ever drew?

FUMANAL: My history teacher.

NUGENT: Sexiest item of clothing?

FUMANAL: White briefs.

NUGENT: Your favorite Tom of Finland character? 

FUMANAL: One of the authoritative hunks.

NUGENT: Locker room or leather bar? 

FUMANAL: Locker Room.

NUGENT: Best color for desire? 

FUMANAL: Blue, for everything.

NUGENT: Ultimate queer icon? 

FUMANAL: Greg Araki, [Pedro] Almodóvar, and their muses. 

NUGENT: Oil paint or sweat? 

FUMANAL: Both.