An intriguing little volume has slipped onto OC's bookshelves and we're giving you the first whiff! Named Baron, its pages showcase an array of beautiful, provocative images that certain people might call "dirty." Regardless of its cleanliness, the magazine is enigmatic and fascinating, an outstanding product of the intellectual and aesthetic interest in sex. I sat down with the mysterious creator of the magazine, the Baron, to have a chat and get a hold of his super sexy new video, which is premiering exclusively for OC.

John Tuite: Why did you create Baron?
Baron: Sex was in the air. We had just come from a decade that treated sex as a schoolboy joke; it was as though we had gone back to the late 50s and early 60s to the CARRY ON FILMS ERA. The Baron team wanted to make a project that addressed sex for the tweens. We are currently living in a decade which is about compartmentalization, replacing or seeking emotions with entertainment. I think one day we may possibly live in a totally emotionless world, where emotions are deemed as non-progressive. So for the debut issue we worked with photographers renowned for staged photography/situations; we wanted to create staged emotions for our current climate. 

JT: A lot of the images are dark and even violent. Do you think that people are drawn to the disturbing in the same way they’re drawn to the erotic? 
B: Yes, they bring us closer to our own animal instincts—survival, savagery, morality, and immorality. 

JT: What distinguishes a sensual image from an erotic one? 
B: A sensual image is not as adventurous.

JT: Erotica is making a comeback, why?
B: Pornography is for the less imaginative and erotica requires much more thought and time to escape. Right now we are having an economic meltdown and people want forms of escapism. 

JT: Do you remember the first image you found arousing? At what point did you become fascinated with depicting sex?
B: It was Margaret Thatcher in 1985. You could see her padded bra under her silk blouse. I have always been interested in depicting sex, my mother tells me that my teacher at school once complained as I had this compulsion to draw naked angels with pubic hair—I was aged six at the time. 

JT: It’s fitting that the first feature of the magazine looks back on the establishment and ensuing rivalry of two pillars of pornography: Playboy and Penthouse. If, as you claim, Playboy was an “acquisitive” magazine focused on materialism and Penthouse was its “anglicized” counterpart, where does Baron fall?
B: The main difference would be that Baron is not just about wanking off; Baron has depth and is critical. I think Hefner applied some depth in the initial setup of Playboy with his sexual revolution/Playboy philosophy, but on reflection Hefner’s sexual revolution became an entirely self-centered, pleasure-based life created just for men and to make money. There is no Baron philosophy; Baron is the observer, a commentator who commissions the world’s finest artists, photographers, thinkers, and writers to translate erotica in their own representative styles.

JT: Who is the Baroness? How does she compare to her Playmate counterparts?
B: I adore the Baroness. She is an ex-member of Parliament who was too much of a tigress surrounded by hamsters to continue working in politics. She now runs a rather interesting finishing school for young ladies, where the school's philosophy is, "If you want something said, ask a man, if you want something done, ask a woman."

JT: What qualities does she embody—physically and personally? What ideal does she represent?
B: In the debut issue of Baron, the Baroness is photographed by the wonderful Robi Rodriguez with an array of beautiful women who all attend the Baroness' finishing school. It's commonplace that powerful men want to exemplify their influence by being photographed with a bevy of beautiful women, so in this shoot the powerful man is replaced with the Baroness.

JT: Dream project/collaborations?
B: I would love to get David Hamilton out of retirement. Larry Clarke is another contributor that I would love to work with, as is Miron Zownir.

JT: What is the art world’s relationship with sex and how is it changing? What is the sex world’s relationship with art?
B: Leigh Ledare—lick him up.

JT: What are the most important sexual works of art?
B: Velázquez’s The Rokeby Venus, which Mary Richardson slashed seven times with a meat cleaver.

JT: Describe the nature of human sexuality.
B: I believe in bisexuality and that it is the future.

JT: Who is the sex symbol of 2011, 2012, and 2013?
B: 2011 was all about Anna Wintour (I had this secret fantasy that she would beat the shit out of me), 2012 is all about the Baroness, and 2013 will be all about Carol Lim—she is hot and smart.


The Baron! By Adrian Wilson

Purchase Baron here.


FILED UNDER: Interview , Art , Magazines , Baron