Dealing with Identity

I chose the artist Jerome Witkin as my artist that deals with identity in his artwork.  I am drawn to his paintings, especially his paintings done in series.  To me, his artwork deals with identity and self, and how a person defines him or her self in a broader society.
"I think there is something about life and art. I mean, if we didn’t have certain experiences with other people reflecting human nature gone wrong, or even human nature gone right, we’d have a background of trauma or background of somebody loving us where you love them back.  I think it’s a matter of how you survive certain situations and then what you do with your art."
        -Jerome Witkin

Division Street 1984-85

The Beating Station, Berlin 1993 

Subway; A Marriage Pt. 1 

I am especially drawn to his paintings because he captures a specific moment in time, and the viewer instantly becomes a part of that moment, not just a viewer of the moment.  His series Division Street is one of my favorite paintings of all time.  Seeing these paintings at the Munson Williams Proctor Art Museum was quite the experience.  They are very large and overwhelming.  I would go and sit on the bench in front of them and just admire his painting.  There is so much emotion of these people captured in the moment, and I feel as though I was a part of the fight.  As a viewer it is very easy to relate to the problems the people in the painting are going through, and that makes them far more personal.  He did a series on the Holocaust (see the center image, The Beating Station, Berlin) that explored his history as a Jewish man, and what happened to other Jews during the Holocaust.