------ Forwarded Message > From: "dasg...@aol.com" <dasg...@aol.com> > Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:19:23 EDT > To: Robert Millegan <ramille...@aol.com> > Cc: <ema...@aol.com>, <jim6...@cwnet.com> > Subject: Art Mutilates Life >
> Etant donnes - Duchamp's Homage To [the Black Dahlia] Killer? > <http://207.56.179.67/steve_hodel/2009/08/black-dahlia-crime-scene-inspi.html> > By Steve Hodel <http://www.stevehodel.com/> > August 17, 2009 10:35 PM > http://207.56.179.67/steve_hodel/2009/08/ > In his enigmatic Etant donnes did Marcel Duchamp secretly pay homage to George > Hodel, just as Hodel paid homage to Marcel's closest friend, Man Ray? > > Marcel Duchamp's Etant donnes > > > > Compared to Black Dahlia crime scene > > > > I'm not going to blog through a restatement of all of the intellectual > theories in support of the argument that there was a very real link between > George Hodel, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, William Copley, and all of the other > surrealists. Suffice it to say that over the past decade much has been written > and the best of it can be found at Mark Nelson and Sarah Bayliss' web and blog > sites- Exquisite Corpse: Surrealism and the Black Dahlia Murder. > <http://exquisitecorpsebook.com/> > > ... > > In BDA Chapter 19 The Final Connections: Man Ray Thoughtprints (pages 239-256) > written some eight-years ago, I provided what I believed to be compelling > evidence showing my father's crime to be an homage to Surrealism as well as a > very cryptic wink-and-nod acknowledging his close friendship to his Hollywood > Dadaist-in-residence-Man Ray. (I also believe it was a one-upmanship, as if to > say to Man Ray and perhaps to "The Movement" in general, "Top this!") > > In that early chapter I made reference to the following > associations/connections linking George Hodel to both Man Ray and Surrealism: > > 1. George Hodel's surgical mimicry of of Man Ray's two famous artworks: Les > Amoureux (The Lovers Lips) and his The Minoutaure (Woman bisected with arms > posed above her head) in his crime scene signatures. > > . Crime Scene > Man Ray Minotaur photo > > > > 2. George Hodel's reference in a personal letter (1980) to me of one of my > active murder investigations as an "enigma inside a mystery" and my discovery > of Man Ray's photograph of the same name. > > 3. Man Ray's 1946 photograph of George Hodel holding Yamantaka. (Photo shows > the Tibetan God in the "yab-yum" position, having sexual intercourse with his > consort, as George appears to look on in worshipful reverence. Yamantaka was a > bull-headed deity and could be considered the Lamaistic counterpart to Man > Ray's own destroyer of maidens, the MINOTAUR.) > > George Hodel Man Ray photo 1946 Yamantaka in "yab-yum > position > engaged in sexual intercourse with consort > > > > The Surrealists were all about" riddles wrapped in mysteries inside enigmas." > Children of Dada playing with pictures and word games, hiding little "secrets" > in their paintings and photographs. The uninitiated need not apply. "Catch us > if you can." > > > > William Copley- Another surrealist's wink-and-nod? > > "Man Ray is the Dada of us all." > > --William > Copley > > As a P.S. I will here include what I consider to be one of Mark Nelson and > Sarah Bayliss' most important discoveries. The 1961 oil painting by > surrealist, William Copley entitled, > > IT IS MIDNIGHT DR. _________. > > > > Copley, Duchamp and Man Ray were the closest of friends. They were together in > Hollywood. Copley visited Duchamp in New York in 1968 (a year before Marcel's > death) and at Duchamp's request purchased his recently completed, Etant donnes > with the understanding that Copley would gift the work to the Philadelphia > Museum of Art after Duchamp's death. Marcel Duchamp died in the fall of 1968 > and his Etant donnes was installed at the museum on July 7, 1969. > > I quote from Nelson & Bayliss' Exquisite Corpse: Surrealism And The Black > Dahlia Murder, page 144: > > "It is Midnight Dr. _____" portrays a nude woman and a fully clothed man. The > male figure appears at the upper left, holding a medical bag. The woman > reclines near the bottom of the canvas like an odalisque. It is a classical > pose, reminiscent of Aridne and so many other nudes in art history. She has > closed eyes, a hint of a smile, and one hand resting on her forehead. Above > her is an array of instruments, including a scalpel and two saws. It suggests > that Copley, distanced from the crime scene by fourteen years and thousands of > miles, had not forgotten it." > > For those interested in further comments on the subject of the Black Dahlia & > Surrealism, I would refer you to the forum at the following link. > > Art Imitating Life: The Surreal Black Dahlia Murder in the forum > <http://forum.theblackdahliainhollywood.com/showthread.php?tid=175> at the > website : > > Surrealist Cast of Characters > <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&om=1&msa=0&msid=1077768923328129 > 54391.000435ca2cfb93766ca61&ll=34.070294,-118.359146&spn=0.199074,0.291824&z=1 > 1&source=embed> (Nelson/Bayliss created Map) > > Duchamp's Secret Masterpiece > <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574346641329487698.htm > l> (Wall Street Journal 8/14/2009) > > > ------ End of Forwarded Message
