The Work of Art Selected by David Wojnoawric - 509 Words

The work of art selected by the Artist David Wojnarowicz is a series of twenty-four black-and-white gelatin silver prints known as â€Å"Arthur Rimbaud in New York†. David Wojnarowicz was a New York City artist and AIDS activist. He identified himself closely with the French Poet Rimbaud. They led similar lives and lifestyles in that they both came from broken homes and found solace and at times anger through their art. Both Rimbaud and Wojnarowicz had feelings of being denied freedom; they both ran away from their harsh reality and both were homosexuals. Their lives spanned over a hundred years apart but Wojnarowicz identified himself closely with the angst that was Rimbaud. The black and white prints have a grimy appearance to them showing a bit of antiestablishment and alternative lifestyles in hard New York. Wojnarowicz style used collage imagery. His method was similar to the artistic process assemblage. This process brought together two or three-dimensional c ompositions using other objects. In these series of work, this method is subtle and used in print. The prints themselves are of a friend of Wojnarowicz’s wearing a mask that showed the face of the French Poet Rimbaud. These prints were photographed in many different areas of New York. In the example of one of the prints in the series (3/6), the image is of a friend wearing the mask of Rimbaud and showing themselves as lovers. The image fused the French poet’s identity with modern New York urban