Robert Mapplethorpe: the liberator of artistic thought

Robert Mapplethorpe: the liberator of artistic thought

 
Few photographershave had such a profound impact on the public debate regarding sensuality as they have in the past. and freedom artistic as Robert Mapplethorpe. His artistic achievements cover a wide variety of genres. media, even if he is best known in France. New York for its photographies sexy black and white leather and his homosexual fetish images. His photographic work, for which he is best known, featured sculpted nudes, sensual S&M images, homoerotic themes, flowers and portraits of famous people. ;bres.

A traditional Catholic childhood

Robert Mapplethorpe is the third of six children and was born in England. in 1946. While her mother, Joan, remained at home. Home to raise their six children, her father, Harry, worked as an electrical engineer. The young artist was high in a traditional Catholic home in the peaceful Queen's neighborhood. Floral Park. According to the artist photographer, his community was too safe for him to stay there. Every Sunday, the Mapplethorpe family went to New York. the church, where Robert served as an altar boy and occasionally created works of art for the priest. His father had a darkroom in his basement and was himself a amateur photographer. But initially, the photographer does not show any passion for photography.

In After just two years, Mapplethorpe obtained his high school diploma. At the age of 16, he enrolled at a university. the Pratt Institute, near Brooklyn, at New York. His father having forbidden him to study painting, he entered the art school. university with a degree in advertising design. Like many other young people, he uses university to help him. as a moment of self-discovery and affirmation of one's freedom. newly discovered with regard to her religious education. He continues to do so. participate in traditionally male organizations like ROTC and the National Society of Pershing Rifles, but it is starting to become more popular. questioning one's sexual orientation after having retained cutouts from homosexual pornographic magazines. Several of these cuttings appear in his early works. In addition, he started experiment with psychedelic drugs. Under LSD, the artist photographer and his companions frequently make collages and other compulsory artistic works. He hated photography classes and preferred to take them. spontaneity is a must. collages and assemblages. a few times he finished his photography work using images from his father's darkroom rather than producing original work.

 
In 1966, the artist changed his main subject, moving from advertising design to graphic design. Thanks to This new discipline, the photographer had a better chance to show his personality. extroverted and distinctive. Its exposure to various media through graphic design has brought him to the forefront. create necklaces, designs, jewelry and assemblages. In 1969, at a course close to obtaining his B.F.A., artist photographer leaves Pratt. It's up to you Around this time he met Patti Smith, his one and only girlfriend. They share a house next door. Brooklyn and then try to exchange works of art for rent at the Chelsea Hotel. They frequently indulge in explore drug experimentation while supporting each other's creative growth. Although their friendship remained strong despite the crisis. Their passionate and often turbulent relationship, Smith was a subject the photographer frequently captured on his camera. At the beginning of the 1970s, at the beginning of the 1970s, New York, Patti Smith had the same aspirations and the same desire as Mapplethorpe to become a recognized artist. She went on to become one of the most admired musicians.

 
Andy Warhol is one of the main artists who shaped the world of art. and influenced Mapplethorpe's creative style and personal goals. He developed a fascination with Warhol and the nascent counterculture that was omnipresent at the time. New York in the early 1970s. Like Mapplethorpe, Warhol was a marginal artist from the middle class. Warhol made a reputation for himself in the art world and led the movement. an opulent life New York. Mapplethorpe and Smith frequently frequented the same clubs as Warhol's group, including Max's Kansas City, a popular New York bar known for its vibrant nightlife.

His first steps in artistic photography

 
Mapplethorpe and Smith settle in next door. The Chelsea Hotel in 1969 after having been transferred to the Chelsea Hotel in 1969. very touched by Warhol and his experimental underground film Chelsea Girls (1966), which was released there. turned. He is committed to as a photographer for Interview magazine, founded by by Warhol, which covers musicians, artists and celebrities from around the world. Mapplethorpe begins leads a bohemian lifestyle and is sometimes a hungry young artist, like many ambitious artists who live abroad. the periphery of society. He and Smith made the Create their works using inexpensive materials including cardboard, paper, magazine cutouts and other items found on the street. Before Sandy Daley, their next-door neighbor, aside, do not lend to Mapplethorpe his Polaroid camera, the artist had not started to create it. take photos of Smith and himself. He liked the proximity of and speed reproduction of the Polaroid, which corresponded to; impatience and impulsivity of the photographer. Daley remembers that when Mapplethorpe started working, While experimenting with the Polaroid, he intentionally failed to buy meals in order to acquire additional rolls of film. The polaroids that survived His death show him removing emulsions from one sheet of paper, adding fresh ink, then reapplying them to another.

 
L’artiste a rencontré pour la première fois James McKendry, le célèbre conservateur de la photographie et des tirages au Metropolitan Museum of Art, lors d'un dîner en 1971. Quelques mois après sa rencontre avec McKendry, sa carrière créative est transformée. McKendry a invité Mapplethorpe au musée pour voir sa collection de photographies anciennes. Bien que la photographie n'ait pas encore été prise au sérieux en tant qu'art, le photographe est motivé pour utiliser la photographie comme un exutoire créatif. Plus tard, McKendry offre Mapplethorpe un appareil photo Polaroid pour Noël afin d'encourager son intérêt naissant pour la photographie. McKendry a développé une relation amoureuse forte avec Mapplethorpe la suite de leur amitié. McKendry a connu des sautes d'humeur dépressives cause de cet amour non réciproque. En 1975, McKendry a passé l'année l'hôpital en raison de problèmes de santé dus sa consommation excessive d'alcool. C'est lque l’artiste photographe a photographié la dernière image de son ami.

L’apogée de sa carrière

 
L'apogée de la carrière du photographe se situe au milieu des années 1970, grâce ses prodigieux portraits d'amis intimes et de mondains, ainsi qu'ses études photographiques des aspects les plus sombres du désir sexuel. Mapplethorpe a capturé Smith en 1975 pour son premier album studio éponyme. L’artiste photographe a utilisé l'appartement de Wagstaff comme toile de fond pour montrer son esthétique en noir et blanc. L'image représente une femme androgyne avec un pantalon noir soigné, une chemise blanche rentrée dans le pantalon et une cravate non attachée qui pend autour de son cou. Sa veste négligemment portée est comparée au style d'anciens grands noms de la musique comme Frank Sinatra. Smith et Mapplethorpe ont tous deux atteint un degré de célébrité auquel ils aspiraient depuis longtemps grâce au disque et la couverture de l'album qui ont été bien accueillis. De plus, le photographe commence obtenir plus de travail et de visibilité grâce au magazine Interview. Après avoir appris que Mapplethorpe rencontrait Wagstaff, Warhol a accepté l'idée que le photographe devienne un collaborateur plus important du magazine. Il rejoint le "bon cercle" et est fréquemment engagé pour photographier des membres de la royauté en Espagne, en France et en Grande-Bretagne. Entre son travail commercial rémunéré et ses propres photographies, Mapplethorpe voit un vide.