An Artist Is Selling All the Underwear Men Left in His House for $50k

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The collection, by artist Jonathas de Andrade, features 68 pairs of vacuum-sealed men’s underwear.

Bernardo Sim

Deputy Editor

Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out. He's also a staff contributor to The Advocate, PRIDE, and other equalpride publications. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida.

You can follow Bernardo Sim on Instagram. Otherwise, you can find him on Bluesky, Threads, X/Twitter, and TikTok.

Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out. He's also a staff contributor to The Advocate, PRIDE, and other equalpride publications. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida.

You can follow Bernardo Sim on Instagram. Otherwise, you can find him on Bluesky, Threads, X/Twitter, and TikTok.

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Bernardo Sim

September 11 2023 2:21 PM EST

September 16 2023 11:37 AM EST

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Jonathas de Andrade’s new art installation at the Armory Show is causing a commotion.

As reported by Artnet, the new installation – titled Olho-faísca/spark eye – consists of 68 pairs of men’s underwear left behind by Andrade’s ex-boyfriends over the years.

This art piece is currently priced at $50,000, which means that each piece of underwear is worth about $735. The briefs are all vacuum-sealed and hung like they’re for sale at a clothing store.

“The piece gets a lot of attention. People ask a lot of questions like ‘Did he have all these lovers?’” gallery partner Daniel Roesler told Artnet. However, Andrade hasn’t disclosed how many men contributed to this collection, nor how long it took him to collect all 68 pairs.

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To pull off this piece, Andrade bought a vacuum-sealing machine to seal the briefs himself. In 2020, he had a similar art installation that consisted of Speedos left behind in changing rooms in Recife, Brazil. Those items were collected over the course of 10 years.

As a 41-year-old Brazilian man, Andrade’s new installation can be perceived as a piece of queer sexual liberation. “[The art installation] is very much about desire and the gaze on the male body,” Roesler noted.

While some of the biggest LGBTQ+ Pride events take place in Brazilian metropolitan cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, it is still pretty dangerous to be queer in the country as a whole. As such, it’s possible that Andrade’s installation is a celebration of gay sex.

Art collectors with $50k to spend – and maybe an underwear fetish – your time has come!