Robert Mapplethorpe is known for his large-scale, highly stylized, black and white portraits, flowers and portraits, and of nude men. He was huge in the 70's and 80's until he died of aids at the end of the decade. Looking over his work now, is it the right time for a resurgence for Mapplethorpe? Or does it seem dated I hear you cry?
He loved to do portraits of flowers, especially orchirds and calla lillies. However, a huge amount of his work focused on homoerotica and BDSM. His X Portfolio was one of his most explicit, featuring imagery which sparked huge controversy in his travelling exhibition, The Perfect Moment, as it was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Andy Warhol & Grace Jones by Mapplethorpe.
Jennifer Jakobson 1980, Self Portrait 1980/1999, Miguel Cruz 1986
German GQ recently relived his work using James Franco. I think this was a clever move on their behalf as he's quite current in the film industry right now so it's making people aware of his work, that maybe weren't before.
His sexually charged photos of black men where critiqued for being exploitive. Would I see his work as becoming relevant today? I'm not sure. Being in the age of the 'water shed' and having systems such as Ofcom where people can complain about the silliest of things that can be seen as offence to them or not acceptable viewing for their children I think the reaction wouldn't be good.
However, some of his fashion imagery I feel is still quite nice such as the above image of Grace Jones, a long with his inoffensive portraits with Andy Warhol. I like black and white imagery, and don't view it as dated but classic, and would easily browse through more of his work like the above.
If intrigued, do google his work, but be aware some of it is quite 'out there' to say the least and isn't for the faint hearted so do so with caution.
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