Michel Journiac
author · photographer
Michel Journiac was a prominent French visual artist known for his work in body art (art corporel), photography, sculpture, and performance. Born in Paris in 1935, he studied theology and aesthetics before pursuing an artistic career characterized by subversive actions that challenged social norms, taboos, and gender roles. His early works featured abstract paintings with red forms evoking flesh, but he quickly moved into performances involving his own body—often using blood or ritualistic elements to explore themes of identity, sexuality, and the human condition. He was a significant figure in the French avant-garde, exploring concepts such as transvestism and psychoanalysis through visual media. Journiac held various academic positions as a professor of plastic arts and history of art before his death in 1995.[5]
- body art
- transvestism
- identity
- ritual
- psychoanalysis
Books
Works by Michel Journiac
- 1965 Alphabet du corps
- 1966 Signe du sang
- 1968 Le Sang nu Préface de Jean Cassou
- 1972 L’Objet du corps et le corps de l’objet
- 1974 24 heures dans la vie d’une femme ordinaire Based on a photographic performance where the artist dressed as a woman to perform everyday tasks.
- 1978 Délit du corps
- 1994 Contrat pour un corps With Jean Daviot and Bernard Marcadé
- 2013 Écrits Collection « Écrits d'artistes »
Exhibitions
- 2004 Michel Journiac, l’ossuaire de l’esprit
- 2018 Michel Journiac. Le Corps travesti