Joel-Peter Witkin, (American, 1939-)
Detail; Ars Moriendi, c. 2007
Tirage argentique
66 x 71 cm
Private collection
Joel-Peter Witkin, (American, 1939-)
Ars Moriendi, c. 2007
Tirage argentique
66 x 71 cm
Private collection
Joel-Peter Witkin is known for his grotesquely beautiful photographs that explore themes of death, religion, and the experience of being socially outcast. Witkin stages surrealistic scenes with cadavers, skeletons, and dismembered body parts so they recall Classical paintings and religious imagery. More on this work
The Ars moriendi ("The Art of Dying") are two related Latin texts dating from about 1415 and 1450 which offer advice on the protocols and procedures of a good death, explaining how to "die well" according to Christian precepts of the late Middle Ages. It was very popular, and was the first in a western literary tradition of guides to death and dying.
There was originally a "long version" and a later "short version" containing eleven woodcut pictures as instructive images which could be easily explained and memorized. More on Ars moriendi
Joel-Peter Witkin (born September 13, 1939) is
an American photographer. His work often deals with such themes as death,
corpses, and various outsiders such as dwarves, transsexuals, intersex persons,
and physically deformed people. Witkin's complex tableaux often recall
religious episodes or classical paintings.
Witkin's parents divorced when he was young. In 1961 Witkin
enlisted in the United States Army with the intention of capturing war
photography during the Vietnam war. However, Witkin never saw combat in Vietnam
and spent his military time at Fort Hood, Texas, and was mostly in charge of
Public Information and classified photos. In 1967, he became the official
photographer for City Walls Inc. He attended Cooper Union in New York, where he
studied sculpture, attaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974. Columbia
University granted him a scholarship for graduate school, but his Master of
Fine Arts degree is from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque More Joel-Peter
Witkin
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