French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Martinez, Images du corps monstrueux
Art and Visual Culture
Aurélie Martinez, Images du corps monstrueux
Foreword by Steven Bernas
Paris: L'Harmattan, coll. "Champs visuels", series: Théories de l’image / Images de la théorie, 2011.
EAN 9782296551954.
21.50 EUR
228 p.
Abstract:
Whether double, bisexual, or hybrid, the figure known as the monster is no longer regarded merely as a subject of study reserved for anatomists. Today, it is courted, represented, and brought into play by both science and art. Contemporary artists draw inspiration from these anomalies or directly engage models with physical deformities to pose for their works. Artists have always created hybrid beings, staging bodies that challenge our emotions. They exhibit the monster, knowing that it will cause a sensation and inevitably capture the public's attention. Is this exhibition comparable to the display of freak show attractions? Does the monster not arrive at a crucial moment to intensify fears and fantasies surrounding various identity mutations in the face of social norms and scientific and technological developments?
Keywords: Body - double - androgyne - hermaphrodite - hybrid - dual unity - monster - identity - norm - beyond the norm - contemporary art.
Aurélie MARTINEZ, Ph.D. in Arts (History, Theory, Practice), conducts research on the staging of real monstrous bodies in contemporary art. Her reflections are grounded in the analysis of her own artistic practice.
CONTENTS
Foreword
Introduction
I. Bodily duplications in contemporary art
1. A Monstrous Trinity
1.1. Craniopagus twins: one head for two
1.2. Joel-Peter Witkin and the mystery of the Trinity
1.3. The Father and the Son, or divine dual unity in the work of Enguerrand Quarton
2. The corporeal two-in-one
2.1. Y-shaped thoracopagus twins and X-shaped pygopagus twins
2.2. No two without one in the work of Maria Klonaris and Katerina Thomadaki
2.3. From the one to the multiple in the work of Pierre Molinier and Hans Bellmer
II. The man-woman or the representation of bisexuality
1. The hermaphrodite as an identity ideal
1.1. Intersex individuals: too much or too little
1.2. The androgyne in search of a sex in Matthew Barney's work
2. Transsexuality, or the third sex
2.1. The desire for couvade, or how a man found himself pregnant
2.2. The desire to be the other and its construction in Jenny Saville's work
2.3. Transsexuality as an ideal in Joel-Peter Witkin's work
III. Between the animalization of man and the humanization of the animal
1. The mythological hybrid
1.1. Figures of animal-men from mythology to physiognomic representations
1.2. A mythological bestiary in Matthew Barney's work
2. The real hybrid confronted with science
2.1. Portraits of real animal-men
2.2. Surgical grafting as a source of metamorphosis and creation in Patricia Piccinini's work
2.3. The transgenic animal according to Patricia Piccinini
3. The humanization of the animal
3.1. Genetic manipulation and ethical compliance
3.2. From humanism to humanization
3.3. An invented and genetically modified bestiary by Patricia Piccinini
Conclusion
By examining the monstrous body, Aurélie Martinez places her work at the intersection of contemporary art history, gender studies, and the philosophy of science. The representation of bodily anomalies—ranging from conjoined twins to intersexuality and transgenic hybrids—challenges the traditional, idealized forms that dominated Western art for centuries. Martinez traces how modern and contemporary creators, from surrealists like Hans Bellmer to postmodern artists like Matthew Barney and Patricia Piccinini, use these transgressive figures to disrupt established aesthetic categories. This study situates the monster not as a historical curiosity, but as a vital conceptual tool for understanding contemporary anxieties.
This volume addresses critical questions about how technological advancements and biotechnology reshape our understanding of the human form. By analyzing the boundaries between the human and the animal, or the normal and the pathological, the book explores how art reflects ongoing ethical debates surrounding genetic manipulation and identity mutations. It serves as an essential resource for researchers, students, and readers interested in visual culture, body theory, and contemporary aesthetics. Through its dual approach of theoretical analysis and artistic practice, the work offers valuable insights into how the staging of physical differences continues to challenge social norms.