Biography mapplethorpe photographer robert
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Biography
Born in Queens in 1946, Robert Mapplethorpe attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he majored in graphic arts, concentrating on drawing, painting, and sculpture. His largely psychedelic work reflected his interest in William Blake and the Surrealists. In 1967, Mapplethorpe met Patti Smith, with whom he will had a long begrepp relationship. Inspired by namn Cornell and Marcel Duchamp, he started experimenting with various materials in mixed-media collages, boxes, and altarpieces. Mapplethorpe dropped out of Pratt in 1969, without finishing his degree. The following year, he continued to work with collages, now including paint and sexual imagery derived from books and magazines. He began making his own photographs, primarily self-portraits, after acquiring a Polaroid camera. In 1973, Mapplethorpe had his first solo galleri exhibition, Polaroids, at the Light galleri in New York. Three years later, he acquired a Hasselblad camera and began taking portraits of fr
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The Photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe
Introduction
I’m looking for the unexpected. I’m looking for things I’ve never seen before
Robert Mapplethorpe, Art News, 1988
Robert Mapplethorpe is best known for his powerful black-and-white portraits and self-portraits. His photographs both challenge us and present us with images of classical beauty.
Using Mapplethorpe's photographs in the ARTIST ROOMS collection this resource takes an in-depth look at some of the key themes Mapplethorpe explored in his work.
Who is Robert Mapplethorpe?
Robert Mapplethorpe was born in 1946 in Queens, New York. One of six children, he was brought up in a strict Catholic environment. When he was sixteen he enrolled at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he studied drawing, painting, and sculpture.
From Polaroid to professional
Early in his career Robert Mapplethorpe was influenced by a range of artists including assemblage artist Joseph Cornell and dada artist Marcel Ducha
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Summary of Robert Mapplethorpe
There are few photographers who have sparked national debate around artistic freedom and eroticism as profoundly as Robert Mapplethorpe. Although championed for his erotic black and white photography of fetish and leather gay imagery in New York City, his artistic accomplishments range across many media. He is best known as a photographer and his subjects consisted of sculptural nudes, erotic S&M imagery, homoerotic themes, flowers, and portraits of celebrities. His formalist approach to photography allowed the artist to approach subjects primarily through beauty and composition, and secondarily through content. It is easy to find the documentary value of his work, however it is the plight for artistic expression of which he was most concerned, consistently searching for new levels of self-expression. His work continues to be considered taboo by many, yet he remains to be one of the most revered American photographers.
Accomplishments
- Mapplethorp