With his iconic art and the groundbreaking content of his Bizarremagazine, John Willie is perhaps the person most responsible forintroducing fetish style to the mainstream. Illustrated with examples ofJohn’s work, this in-depth exploration shines the spotlight on the manbehind the drawings of buxom beauties and the photographs of expertlyexecuted erotic bondage, delving into
• his early life from his 1902 birth in England as John Coutts throughhis education, military service, immigration to Australia, andemployment as a seaman and laborer;
• the chance encounter with a network of high-heel fetishists thatincited John’s discovery of his community and his calling in the worldof erotic art;
• his relationship with model, wife, and muse Holly Faram;
• his move to the United States and his place in the mid-20th-centuryfetish scene populated by artists, publishers, editors, and models suchas Charles Guyette, Robert Harrison, Edythe Farrell, Irving and PaulaKlaw, Bettie Page, and Eric Stanton;
• the debut of his groundbreaking Bizarre magazine in 1946,through which he created a space for like-minded people to share andcelebrate fantasies—from high heels and cross-dressing to blindfolds andbondage—that the mainstream world found “bizarre”;
• his career-long struggles against the forces of governmental oversight;
• and how the murders by so-called “Glamour Girl Killer” HarveyGlatman—who posed as a bondage photographer to lure his victims—helped spur John’s eventualdisillusionment with the world of fetish art he helped build.

Ahead of his time, John's influences can still be seen in the worlds ofart and fashion, and he was an advocate for freedom of expression indress, gender identity, and sexuality—issues that are still hotlydebated today. Drawing heavily from John’s extensive interactions withresearchers at the Kinsey Institute, Garrett provides a close-up portraitof the artist whose ideas have fed the erotic fantasies of generationsof people.


Titel: John Willie: A Bizarre Life
ISBN: 9780764368332
Bandtyp: Inbunden
Språk: Engelska