Provocative, scandalous, and unapologetic, the work of legendary photographer Robert Mapplethrope stands alone and continues to push the boundaries of time. From his famous portraits of New York artists during the 1970s and ‘80s, to his controversial nude and BDSM photographs, his legacy continues decades after his death with an astounding solo exhibition of his work. Open until January 20th, the exhibition Subject Object Image at Alison Jacques in London celebrates 24 years of collaboration between the gallery and The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, and includes a special collection of his rarely seen photographs.
Mapplethorpe belonged to the golden era of glamour, Studio 54, and artistic freedom of 1970s Manhattan. He found home in a group of creatives that thrived off the energy of the city and experimented with the hedonism of open sexual activity and drugs. His photographs emit his restless ambition to sculpt his subjects in a perfect equilibrium of lighting and details that cement them in time. The exhibition spans thirteen years of Mapplethorpe’s life and covers his photography from 1976 to 1989, when he sadly passed at forty-two.
At sixteen, Mapplethorpe left his strict Catholic home in Queens, New York to study graphic design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. After school, he was magnetically drawn to creating art and began photographing his friends in his studio apartment in Manhattan. His first solo exhibition was called Polaroids in 1973, and since then his career gradually garnered more attention. He photographed people like Patti Smith, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and many others, all of which are included in a portrait gallery of his work at this exhibition.
Accompanying some of these portraits are also quotes from the subjects that recall their experience with Mapplethorpe. “Like so many others before me, I got lost in my head listening to his instructions to turn, lift and look,” reveals a quote from Edward Mapplethorpe. “It was this genius of his attention to detail that has made so many of Robert’s portraits so revealing”. Other images included in the exhibition have not been widely seen before, including still lifes, nude male and female models, and rare and exotic photographs of flowers using dye-transfer color.
Mapplethorpe’s photographs show the beauty and intricacy of the human body and all of its forms. He wanted to objectify his subjects, and in doing so he opened himself up to a world in which many perceived his art as sacrilegious and offensive. “I captured New York of its time,” he said simply in a 1988 documentary. The Subject Object Image exhibition is a testament to his artistry and his groundbreaking legacy.
Alistair Butler - "Courtesy: The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, New York, and Alison Jacques, London © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission"
Andy Warhol - "Courtesy: The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, New York, and Alison Jacques, London © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission"
Arnold Schwarzenegger - "Courtesy: The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, New York, and Alison Jacques, London © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission"
Paloma Picasso - "Courtesy: The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, New York, and Alison Jacques, London © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission"
Yoko Ono - "Courtesy: The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, New York, and Alison Jacques, London © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission"