Joel-Peter Witkin

The work

Visitation, Paris/New Mexico (diptych)
2004
27.1 x 27.5 cm / 10.6 x 10.8 in.
Silver print

The diptych Visitation, Paris/New Mexico by the American artist Witkin, bears as its title an evocation of a classic theme from the life of Mary, mother of Jesus. After being informed by an angel that she has been chosen to bear a son of God, Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is also pregnant with the son who would later become John the Baptist.
In this particular visitation, Witkin modifies the scene. The visitor is not Mary but an elderly preacher dressed entirely in white; Elizabeth is a very young girl, and both are in a bathtub, which anticipates the cult of bathing as a purifying baptism. The dove has been replaced by a white horse that appears on the right side of the scene.
The artist uses a light oversaturation technique, creating a scene where dreams and religion intersect. The girl in the bath, the white color, the horse, and the shepherd holding the Bible create a disturbing and unreal atmosphere.
In contrast, the other side of the diptych is completely different. A young nude woman, lying on a couch or bed, covers her eyes. On her body, the essential aspects of motherhood are circled in black ink. Along with the sex, a small skeleton adds mystery to the overall image, recalling the characteristic celebration of death in Mexican society. The woman is lying in an environment filled with objects, with a strange figure that seemingly goes unnoticed because it is completely out of focus and moving (an angel?). While the left side is sharp and clear, the right side is blurred with a strange presence that reinforces the dreamlike feeling of the whole.

The artist

(Brooklyn, N. York, 1939)

Among his main influences, Witkin cites Giotto, the transcendent Tuscan painter of the 14th century. This statement is immediately understood through the composition and organization of the scenes Witkin photographs; the profile images, the defined independent volumes, and the solemnity of the scenes are reinforced by a dazzling intensity of light.
His photos often involve themes and subjects such as death, sex, corpses (or body parts), and people like dwarves, transsexuals, hermaphrodites, or people with physical deformities. His complex compositions often evoke biblical passages or famous paintings, simultaneously conveying a transgressive and startling nature to his art. He has been seen as a “lover of the unwanted, the damaged, the pariah,” and such unconditional acceptance generally characterizes his work, as did Saint Francis of Assisi.
His approach to the physical process of photography is highly intuitive and includes staining or scratching the negative. Despite controversies and the fact that Witkin’s photographs entered the art world at a time when photographic works rarely did, he was given the opportunity to be included in the world’s most forward-thinking museums, such as the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the San Francisco MoMA, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the New York MoMA, and the Whitney Museum.