One thing that instantly drew me in to his work was his own admiration for Andy Warhol, who I have mentioned before on this blog as being a huge inspiration of mine. I really love Mapplethorpe's success story of living in New York, broke, wanting to be a part of Warhol's inner-circle at Max's Kansas City. He eventually got noticed by his eclectic fashion sense and androgynous partner in Smith, where he met Warhol, and was welcomed into his world. He went from admiring from afar, to photographing Warhol throughout many years, and Warhol returning the respect by creating various screen print portraits of Mapplethorpe. Then, in 2015, the Wadsworth Gallery in the US showed an exhibition called 'Guise & Dolls', putting both artists side by side, which I go into more detail on later. This kind of story shows how ambitious and passionate he was about his work, no-matter how controversial or misunderstood it was at the time, and still is. 

The exhibition coincides with what would have been Mapplethorpe's 70th birthday, and the release of the HBO biopic of his life 'Look at the Pictures'. Although Teller is known for his fashion photography, Alison Jaques said she wanted the images shown to be "the antithesis of conventional fashion photography". 

I found the curation to be really interesting due to the juxtaposition between the images shown; from still life, to portraiture, to sexually explicit. Yet they all seem so fluid, with the mirror elements of structure and shape allowing the images to seamlessly sit next each other with no harsh contrasts. Although the exhibition was small, with only 48 images being shown, the layout of the gallery was interesting on it's own, let alone the actual content and their deeper meanings. The first thing you see in the gallery is a blown-up image of David Croland wearing a gag, and then a main wall is covered with a model posing nude on the beach. These somewhat controversial and eye-grabbing images tell you that the exhibition is about Mapplethorpe's still life and portraiture, but won't shy away from his sexually explicit images, giving an unflinching and honest representation of his work.

Mapplethorpe is best known for his portraiture of his muses. His images of Patti Smith are my personal favourites, most notably his photoshoot for her Horses album cover which is a huge influence to anyone looking into menswear as womenswear. Although only one small image of Smith is on display, you get to see his other notable muses, such as bodybuilder Lisa Lyon, and of past relationships, David Croland and Sam Wagstaff. 

I'm really glad I was able to see the exhibition, as I'm sure it's one that will be remembered and talked about in the future as showing a different side to Mapplethorpe. Since visiting the gallery, I've been inspired to learn more about Mapplethorpe's photography, as most of my knowledge is currently about his social life and effect on pop culture. I would recommend the book Warhol & Mapplethorpe: Guise & Dolls, from the exhibition at the Wadsworth Gallery aforementioned. It displays both artist's work side by side, looking at gender and identity. The challenging of gender roles, provocative self-portraiture, and exploration of androgyny are themes both Warhol and Mapplethorpe had a huge impact on in the creative world. It's so interesting to see how both artists had such different approaches to their work in some aspects, yet in others had the same ideas and visions. I can only hope the success of this exhibition means there will be more to come in the celebration of Mapplethorpe's work.

first image from uk.phaidon.com

all other images are my own, courtesy of the Alison Jaques Gallery