![]() Her pose is classical, echoing Manet’s ‘ Olympia’. Joel-Peter Witkin “S anitarium,” 1983 (i.) Sanitariumįor example, the astonishing vision of “ Sanitarium” (1983), a hooded figure with tubes emerging from its mouth (calling to mind the fetish play of Mapplethorpe’s photograph above), but here the figure is nude, an obese woman, reclining, recumbant. Parting the curtains of Witkin’s sideshow, we discover the ‘oddities’ are not monstrous or ‘other’ through his singular and particular vision the artist is able to represent the humanity of his subjects, championing their subjectivity. Witkin’s work has been labelled “exploitative,” “offensive” and “heretical.” But Witkin’s camera eye invites us to look where we most want to look away and in so doing, shows us something of ourselves. Evocative of carnival ‘freak shows,’ and echoing the early films of Alejandro Jodorowsky and David Lynch, Oddities Reminiscent of antique photographs, silver prints and daguerreotypes, his photographs appear timeless, ghostly, otherworldly, his fascination with “outsider” subjects (including transgender and intersex persons, those with lost limbs, congenital deformities, obese persons and those with dwarvism) ensuring we will find few familiar landmarks when entering Witkin’s visionary realm. Joel-Peter Witkin “ Woman Once a Bird” 1990 () Dwarvism In contrast, Witkin’s work appears coarse, gritty, gristly and grotesque, often stark, heavy with contrast, the surfaces distressed, scratched and chemically scarred, like graffiti on the brick wall of a ruined building, like old furniture or discarded objects. Robert Mapplethorpe “ Poppy” 1988 () Chemically Scarred Robert Mapplethorpe “ Man in Polyester Suit,” (3.bp.) Perhaps nowhere in Mapplethorpe’s exhibition is this tension rendered more explicitly than “ Man in Polyester Suit”(1980), or in that same picture’s presentation alongside dramatically illuminated and pristinely composed still life studies of fleshy, pendulant flowers. Robert Mapplethorpe “ Joe NYC,” 1978 Mapplethorpe’s Exhibition ![]() There is an ironic tension between the velvety grey tones, the professional finish, and the bold depiction of SM/ Fetish sub-culture in, for example, “ Joe, NYC” (1978) (a vinyl-clad figure, fully hooded with long breathing tube on hands knees.) With slick, NY elegance Mapplethorpe’s XYZ portfolios subvert the symbol language of the everyday, the commonplace in order to expose the deviation/variation that often lurks beneath a polished, contrived veneer. In contrast to the Grand Guignol of Witkin’s mythopoetic world, at times as bizarre as Hieronymous Bosch, there is a quotidian familiarity to the subjects of Mapplethorpe’s photography. This may have a lot to do with Witkin’s subject matter: morbid, gruesome, and often heavy with heretical religious symbolism. Robert Mapplethorpe, from “ The Perfect Moment,” 1989 () Contrived Veneer ![]() Joel-Peter Witkin “ The Bra of Miro” 1982 () Although Witkin readily acknowledges, “people either love my work or they hate it,” he has managed to side step the limelight of controversy in exchange for a quiet but steady infamy. The artistic career of Joel-Peter Witkin (September 13, 1939) has run a meandering, twisting parallel with fellow photographer and transgressive artist Robert Mapplethorpe whose 1989 exhibition The Perfect Moment sparked national debate in the USA, and ignited a culture war that continues to rage today. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |