"A SEASON IN HELL": DAVID WOJNAROWICZ'S RIMBAUD IN NEW YORKSERIES (1978-79)

by HARDIN, JENNIFER L

David Wojnarowicz (1954-1992) was an interdisciplinary artist who rejected traditional scholarship and was suspicious of institutions. Wojnarowicz’s Arthur Rimbaud in New York series (1978-79) is his earliest complete body of work. In the series a friend wears the visage of the French symbolist poet. My discussion of the photographs involves how they convey Wojnarowicz’s notion of the city. In chapter one I discuss Rimbaud’s conception of the modern city and how Wojnarowicz evokes the figure of the flâneur in establishing a link with nineteenth century Paris. In the final chapters I address the issue of the control of the city and an individual’s right to the city. In chapter two I draw a connection between the renovations of Paris by Baron George Eugene Haussman and the gentrification Wojnarowicz witnessed of the Lower East side. Finally, in chapter three I analyze the role that graffiti plays in the series.