BY KAREN BRIEDE
Special for the Times
Past history has proven that "mum" was the word when the concept of "alternative" lifestyles was ever brought into focus, especially in a family forum. Rarely, would anyone find themselves in conversation about people of the same sex having a common bond for fear someone might get the "wrong idea."
So what happens when you turn on the TV and the most popular sitcom, Roseanne, reveals a supposedly shocking program where two men get married? Then try switching channels to your favorite late-night talk show only to tune in to a fashion show of men dressing in women's clothes. Even Patrick Swayze has donned a skirt for the big screen.
Europeans, on the other hand, don't seem to make such a fuss. Then, too, Europeans have been raised around the idea of respecting classic nude sculptures and paintings of all genders for hundreds of years.
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For Hammond artist Bruce Cegur, Americans seem to choose to struggle with these concepts even in the simplest terms, only to reveal much of their own personal and possibly "closeted" confusion.
In one of Cegur's works in progress, "Gender-Go-Round", colorful cutout images of male/female characters gleefully participate on carnival merry-go-rounds before a busy background of spermatozoa shown racing toward a shining sun (egg).
"I've made it obvious, "says Cegur, "that the sperm in this art collage is on a definite mission and the gender outcome is in question. It's a whimsical view of reality.
"Gender issues seem to be more of a conflict of the mind," says the 41-year-old self-taught artist, whose home studio is bursting with his own artwork.
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"Panic," another incredibly strong painting in progress, reveals a man's painful loneliness when he thinks he must make a choice to reveal his closeted lifestyle. Astounding as this piece seems, one cannot resist the need to rescue this man from his deeply emotional sense of helplessness.
The highly energetic Cegur makes a living as an artist and says he is just not happy doing anything else. "It's my curse. People either love me or hate me," he says, referring to his artwork when he shifts into his many moods.
Working mostly in watercolors or prismacolor pencils or oils, Cegur began as an erotic artist painting what related to other people's lives, not just his own.
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Hammond artist Bruce Cegur, who says people either 'love or hate' his work, painted 'They Have to Be Carefully Taught' in 1994.
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"I ate a lot of soup in those early starving artist days and held lots of odd jobs. Now my work is very freeing, even though it reveals an extreme depth of interpretation. The subject matters make statements which appeal to everyone, male or female."
After living in Chicago for 20 years, Cegur likes the excitement of people, noise and activity, but also shows a passion for nature, especially in his flower series. "The only way I can see society reaching any relief from stress and crisis is to go to the woods and enjoy the natural therapy."
In several works, Cegur utilizes garden terms mixed with mythological characters, transcending what could be called "difficult" subject matter.
"Many people think I'm influenced by Mapplethorpe," says Cegur. "To me, Mapplethorpe came across as being very selfish and mean, even though his works also headed towards abstract statements."
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