Fonzo

Fonzo was one of the chefs in the kitchen where I was the dishwasher, in my student-days. What I loved about him was that he didn't do crazy hierarchy stuff, we were colleagues and it was our responsibility to do our utmost, in whichever way was befitting for our job.

I think Fonzo was one of the very first people with whom I was totally out, and he had a delightful "don't care" attitude about the gay thing. He was all about be and let be.

There was never a thought of Fonzo and I interacting physically, it was clear he didn't operate that way. But as long as I recognized that fact I could basically do whatever I wanted. Like publicly salivating over his most delicious ass....

Fonzo was a total sweetheart, a truly good guy. Maybe he was too good, for he wasn't lucky with the ladies. They always seemed to use him for a while and then dump him.

So I felt the myth of Actaeon was appropriate; the hunter who accidentally saw Venus in the nude, and was punished for it by being changed into a deer and being devoured by his own dogs.

Marie-Louise O'Murphy was a mistress of Louis XV and famously depicted by Boucher, as reclining on a sofa, with her behind sticking into the air -you can even see her on the illustration. The perfect visualization of Fonzo and his posterior.

Fonzo was one of the very last Dutch guys who had to go in obligatory military service, and he hated every minute of it. It was really quite stupid, for it was clear they would cancel military service the year after, and there were thousands who got out of the obligation. Fonzo certainly tried, but to no avail. I wanted to depict the distinct sense of "fuck you". We had just gotten a new queen: Beatrix. She's there.