Titled, by Max Maez

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”

Matthew 3:13–15

What Are We Looking at?

In Maez's reinterpretation of the famous baptism he presents us with an image that represents him. Whether this is as John or as Jesus is unclear since the audience is not privy to which of the two quotes in his title the image refers to. Since Maez used himself multiple times and another model only once, he alludes to a singularity and plurality at the same time. The water lily, similar to the lotus flower, appears even more ubiquitously and is associated with numerous other religions, cultures, beliefs, and virtues such as purity and truth.

Identify the Elements

Like many artists he uses himself as the model in his work. In fact, Maez appears twenty-four times, which connects him to the number of hours in each day. In twenty-three of the renditions he appears partially nude and masked, but at the point of baptism he is completely nude and unmasked. Complete nudity at the moment of baptism is loaded with potential meaning ranging from notions of purity when we are born, rejection of all material trappings, rejection of shame, and the embrace of vulnerability. Oral sex is also implied.

How Can the Image Be Interpreted?

Each twenty-fourth hour cycle occurs just before the “zero dark hour” or the witching hour, the moment of no return, when a day indisputably shifts into a new one, or into a new week, month, year, decade, century, or even a new millennium. In this context the multiple selves have achieved salvation just in the nick of time. The doomsday clock is permanently set to just before midnight. The birth of the nuclear age warns of an everlasting darkness due to nuclear annihilation and is similar to the end of times, Armageddon or the apocalyptic end of the world, which many religions and prophecies predict.

The audience must therefore ask itself whether salvation through baptism is a metaphor for all of humanity or just for one multifaceted individual. By asking this question, by pitting the individual against humanity, or vice versa, we arrive at one of the most contested, philosophical, and religious questions human kind has been grappling with since the onset of self-awareness or the perceived loss of innocence: namely in the Garden of Eden.

Therefore, does Maez tell his story or that of everyone or something in-between? Like other artists whose interpretation of their religion has caused controversy, Maez has a personal motivation for having made the images he did. As a Catholic, he was rejected for being gay and also for identifying with Indio culture. Not being seen by his religion and not seeing iconography that represented him, eventually led to the creation of work where he questions the Church by replacing religious icons with himself or with his friends. The reflection of his sexual orientation is more directly referenced in other images as the main reason for his ostracism from the Church, though the main aspect of his work does ask profound questions beyond this one particular issue.

Conclusion

What is redemption? What is baptism? What is belonging? Who is accepted and who is not? What is self-actualization in the context of society and religion? What is the artist's role in pushing boundaries? What is truth and who defines it? What is rejection? What is fear? What is courage? What is desecration? What is forgiveness?

Those are some of the questions you may potentially ask yourself when confronted with this image and ask yourself what this means to you. Some images are not intended to provide answers but rather intend to provoke questions.