Robert Mapplethorpe Pictures / Self Portrait, 1977 Gelatin silver print, 35.1 x 34.6 cm Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Gift, The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation 93.4281 © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission.
Just 42 years old at the time of his death, Robert Mapplethorpe’s legacy was already set. A visionary with impeccable instincts and a taste for the extreme, Mapplethorpe was driven by the desire to reveal beauty in its many forms: be it in flowers or fetishes.
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For Mapplethorpe, the photograph was a space for transformation, liberation, and freedom to subvert, transgress, and ultimately reclaim gender and sexuality for himself, and by extension, the world. His early collaborations with Patti Smith established them as icons of an emerging avant-garde scene in the New York underground. When he met curator Sam Wagstaff in 1972, they became engaged in a personal and professional relationship that would bind them together until death.
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With both homosexuality and pornography being decriminalised in the United States, Mapplethorpe deftly centred the margins in his work, taking domination to new heights by making the viewer submit to his terms. 30 years after his death, Mapplethorpe’s mastery reveals itself to be a prescient, powerful force that is particularly poignant in recognition of all that was lost.
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On January 25, Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now opens at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. In celebration of the exhibition, we spoke with artists, journalists, and filmmakers who share their encounters with Mapplethorpe over the years.
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Read the Full Story at AnOther Man
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Robert Mapplethorpe Pictures / Self Portrait, 1977 Gelatin silver print, 35.1 x 34.6 cm Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Gift, The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation 93.4281 © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission.