#brawnandbeauxarts

[utahgent]

The French Connection 🍾

There is a specific kind of gravity in Paris.

It’s in the limestone, the operatic history, and the unapologetic way the city occupies space. During my Master’s, I didn't just study International Relations; I studied the art of presence.

My Brawn & Beaux-Arts theme this month is a nod to that French influence—the intersection of masculine mass and classical elegance. It’s about being a flâneur in your own life, even when that life is a commute between Logan and the office.

High-art meets high-impact.

Full essay on the Transatlantic Dandy drops tomorrow on Substack

[utahgent]

The Manifesto: Brawn & Beaux-Arts

Welcome to the first month of a new narrative direction here.

My academic roots are in the Beaux-Arts tradition—years spent in practice rooms at USU studying the mechanics of the Italian appoggio and the dramatic architecture of Opera. But the physical reality of the "Brawn"—the bear, the gainer, the masculine form—has always been the silent partner to that artistry.

This month, we are collapsing the distance between the high-art stage and the modern masculine identity.

The Curation:

The Heroic Aesthetic: I’ll be pairing classical sculpture and 19th-century French romanticism with modern photography that celebrates the larger masculine form. Think of it as a study in "The Heroic Baritone" in physical form.

Socio-Cultural Dispatches: Brief reflections drawing on my research in American Studies and Dandyism. How does a man of stature navigate the "fine art" world today?

The Sound of the Body: Occasional vignettes on the relationship between vocal resonance and physical mass.

Tumblr is the only place where these two worlds—the intellectual and the physical—can breathe together without the constraints of an algorithm.