Molotov Man Response

When Joy said “all of my paintings are based on photographs,” I instantly knew what trouble lie ahead. I also paint from photographs, but I’ve never actually done it for anything other than my own enjoyment. I’ve never tried to publish or display any of these paintings, so I’ve never been involved in this kind of conflict. I do agree with Joy, that the distinctions between her painting and the photograph are obvious. Just the change in medium creates a unique, appropriate context. Her choice of framing completely changes the image, as she mentions in the article. Which is also to say that I think the image does work with Garnett’s conceptual riot series. The photographer, Susan Meiselas feels as though her subjects “context is being stripped away.”

The photographer of the original image, Susan Meiselas, seems less interested in the artistic potential of her image as she is the truth and movement beyond the photographs frame. Her portion of the article has a great focus on the circumstantial history behind the Molotov Man. For instance she tells us his name, Pablo Arauz, and that he was, at the time, a Nicaraguan rebel fighting the regime in power. She knows the image has been used in many ways: political, religious, but it has primarily remained an image of Nicaraguan pride. She obviously finds Joy Garnett’s reasons for recreating this image a little less worthy due to its abstractness.

I can take both sides here. I think it would have been smart for Joy to contact Susan and let her know of her intentions for the Molotov man. I’m aware that there would be a fraction of the art in the world if every artist had to seek permission to do what they do, but I do think it should be a common practice from one artist to another when undertaking a translation in or between mediums. I don’t think Joy meant to impose on the images importance to Susan, but you just never know what type of person you might be dealing with. Susan seems very straightforward in her belief that Arauz belongs in his original context.