‘Beefcake’ Served Artfully

Innocence and stark sexuality commingle slyly in “Beefcake Plus,” an exhibition of seductive black and white photographs by Arthur Tress at Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana. On view through Sunday, the show is something of a coup.

For starters, its quality is far superior to the average OCCCA offering. In the world of fine art photography, Tress is a big deal. An internationally respected, openly gay photographer, he is skilled at couching witty scenes of gay male sensuality in dead-ahead documentary style.

His staged images of nude and clothed figures are rife with psychological implications for viewers of any sexual orientation. They probe the endless complexities of longing, loneliness and connection to others. They are exquisite case studies in the duplicity of photography--in how the apparently realistic medium can foster fictions that spark boundless imaginings.

Many of these 25 photographs are graphic. Tress employs a dualistic approach to sexual pleasure--he both savors it and spoofs it. Often Tress seems drawn to the gothic, shadowy side of sexuality. He photographed many of his tableaux in New York City, setting them against backdrops of sooty brick and chain link or in bare and seedy rooms.

Certainly his images are laden with inside jokes about certain modes of gay life. Some images incorporate black leather and military motifs, smacking of bondage. In the 1970 print “Boot Fantasy,” a naked man has his head in a bucket and an old, dirty boot on his back.

In “Plastic Wrapped Man” a figure stands inside a kind of giant plastic baggie that could be a metaphor for a condom or isolation from the world.

Still amid the audaciousness there is a strain of gentleness, even wistfulness.

Photographed in California, “Descent into the Valley” (1995) is a slightly soft-focus view of a naked man seen from behind, walking through an expanse of dark, twisted branches as if trekking in search of his soul. Indeed this show, small as it is, delineates a progression in Tress’ themes and thinking. His early work explores the special code or language of sexuality. His later images seem to embrace a wider, more lyrical humanism.

Always his print quality is rich and resonant.

Yet for all their brazen prettiness, Tress’ images evidence a kind of bruised and haunted yearning. These are not seminal, world-changing photographs. But they vibrate with a spine-tingling urgency nonetheless.

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“Beefcake Plus,” photographs by Arthur Tress. Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, 117 N. Sycamore, Santa Ana. Wednesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. Exhibit ends Sunday. . (714) 667-1517. Due to the nature of the subject matter, it is recommended for adults only.