Exhibitions

MNAF PROGRAM 2012-2013

12 JANUARY - 20 MAY 2012
DUFFY. A PHOTOGRAPHIC GENIUS

1 JUNE - 31 JULY 2012
PATRICK MIMRAN. SYMBOLS AS SYMPTOMS

13 SEPTEMBER - 14 OCTOBER 2012
AKIYOSHI ITO UNDERWATER DREAMS

25 OCTOBER - 6 JANUARY 2013
LES ARCHIVES ALINARI ET LA SYNTAXE DU MONDE
Hommage à Italo Calvino

10 JANUARY - 10 MARCH 2013
GUY BOURDIN
A MESSAGE FOR YOU

21 MARCH - 24 JUNE 2013
JOEL-PETER WITKIN
IL MAESTRO DEI SUOI MAESTRI

Woman with Small Breasts © Joel-Peter Witkin, courtesy baudoin lebon

JOEL-PETER WITKIN
IL MAESTRO DEI SUOI MAESTRI
21 MARCH - 24 JUNE 2013

Joel-Peter Witkin: a mystery? An artist? A photographer? A painter? No, he is simply an author.

An author imbued with the history of art: ours, that of the Western world. Not for sectarian reasons, but for a reason that is clear to him: it is his civilization, which he knows, frequents, ingests and digests after having observed, analyzed and dissected it.

The entire oeuvre of Joel-Peter Witkin rests upon this historical and artistic digestion.

Greek (and Roman) mythology is as omnipresent as the French, Italian, German and Flemish Renaissances. His still life work is often influenced by Spanish and Dutch painting.

A retrospective reading of Joel-Peter Witkin’s work reveals a continuity of several themes:
- the criteria of beauty of his bodies are far from Renaissance canons
- death is part of life, from which derive those body parts and corpses that transcend time and that must not be confused with cadavers that ‘suspend’ life
- a profound respect for his models and for humanity
- a mysticism that goes beyond religion, even if Witkin himself often jokes about having both Judeo-Slavic and Italian-Catholic origins.

HOURS: 10 am - 6.30 pm (Wednesday closed)
Press Office: Sefania Rispoli, rispoli@alinari.it tel. 055.2395207, fax 055.2395230

Admissions: Adults €9 (includes exhibit and Museum)- Reduced €7.50 - Admission charge for schools: €4 per person

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