Joel Peter Witkin Imagines Bush's "Ship of Fools"

The art world has come to expect any number of grotesqueries in the work of Joel Peter Witkin. The Albuquerque-based fine-art photographer built his reputation with images containing cadavers, hermaphrodites, and various human and animal organs, all of which, somehow, were transformed into profoundly beautiful (if shocking) compositions. So the Witkin image here may come as a kind of revelation. As far as we know, this is the first time it’s been seen in the United States. I present the image with a warning, however: Supporters of George W. Bush may want to look away. Witkin’s image is one-sided and ruthless in its sarcasm. But, while Tony Snow might disagree, we think it is brilliant political allegory. It’s also informed by art history, so perhaps it’s not as much of a departure for Witkin as one might think.

The Witkin image has been shown at the Galerie Baudoin Lebon in Paris, a city not known for its fondness toward the U.S. president. Parisians do love art history, though, and Wikin’s image is based on one of the touchstones of French art: the 1819 painting “Raft of the Medusa” by Theodore Gericault. The painting itself was a political condemnation following the infamous shipwreck of the French frigate La Meduse, in which more than a hundred people died on a makeshift raft after being abandoned by lifeboats. To make his painting as real as possible, Gericault made sketches of bodies in a morgue. Is it any wonder Witkin was moved by the painting?

In Witkin’s version, the raft becomes, as the artist says, “a contemporary ‘Ship of Fools.’” Bush, portrayed by a look-alike model, is shown sitting “lost in his own ideas, shown as small electric lights.” At his feet lay his secretary of state, Condoleeza Rice. Above Bush is his mother, Barbara, “basking in the light, the myth of Republicanism.” At her feet is former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, “crushed by the defeat of Iraq.” Former secretary of state Colin Powell taps Bush on the shoulder to make him aware of their rescue. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife express joyful rapture in their deliverance.

Is it fair for an artist to take on such subjects in such a way? We’d like to hear your opinion about the image. One thing we’re pretty certain about: Witkin won’t be  invited to any White House functions in the near future. Somehow, though, we don’t think he’d want to be.
—David Schonauer

Comments

[Jim Johnson]

I guess I don't understand your perplexity. It seems to me obvious that an artist can take on more or less any subject in whatever way she chooses. Why is this troubling? Why should we worry about artists speaking their political minds? It's not as though political elites (not just the current administration) have plenty of ways to communicate their assessments and beliefs. Those who dissent from those belifs or assessments, or those who just find them laughable are at a disadvantage in that respect.

[Peter Hanley]

"Witkin won’t be invited to any White House functions in the near future."

This made me laugh out loud, because it's one of those sentences that I had never thought, yet was amazed at how true it was.

I was most taken aback by this image for how overtly topical it is, something I don't usually think of with Witkin. Unfortunately I'm not sure it has the staying power of some of his more timeless work, but it's still a fantastic image.

It's hard to see the details in the fairly small image, even the pop-up -- but I'm not seeing some of the stuff, for example Colin Powell (I don't see anyone tapping Bush's shoulder).

Is the corpse in the lower right the guy Cheney shot in the face?

[David Schonauer]

I'm not sure who the corpse is. I like your interpretation though.