Robert Mapplethorpe
Sacred and Profane Photographer By Michael ShawClassical grace and beauty in the most unexpected places.
Robert Mapplethorpe approached subjects from the traditional to the shocking, all with the same classical eye. Whether still-life tulips or hardcore S&M, Mapplethorpe handled each subject with equal weight and grace. He viewed New York's early underground punk scene and gay subcultures with reverence and classicism, canonizing the marginal with the weight and gravity of ancient Greek sculpture. His muscular models, both solo and in duet, became more gods than mortals through his mastery of dark, deftly balanced shadows. The classical poses and sets became that much more impactful when Mapplethorpe adorned them in a full range of sadomasochistic accoutrements. His work became controversial, even scapegoated, especially when his 1988 retrospective led to museum cancellations. Yet his goal was not to be a provocateur but rather to document his singular vision of magic, homoeroticism, and classical portraiture. Befallen by AIDS in 1989, his legacy was not only his searing, haunting and always beautiful images, but also his daring to cover private pursuits unapologetically, and in the process make them accessible, if not normalized, to the wider culture at large.
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