This exhibition of nearly 60 images reveals artist's work through a radically fresh interpretation. The selection of silver gelatin prints represents several areas of his aesthetic interests, including still lifes, portraits, figure studies, body fragments and classical statues which is the opportunity to see his work through the matrix of Neoclassicism.
Sean Kelly is delighted to announce a major exhibition of photographs
by Robert Mapplethorpe. The exhibition, which opens on July 1st will
continue through August 12th, and coincides with an exhibition at the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical
Tradition: Photographs and Mannerist Prints, which also opens July 1st
and continues through August 24th.
This exhibition of nearly 60 images reveals Mapplethorpe’s work through
a radically fresh interpretation. The selection of silver gelatin
prints represents several areas of Mapplethorpe’s aesthetic interests
including; still lifes, portraits, figure studies, body fragments and
classical statues which facilitate the unique opportunity to see
Mapplethorpe’s work through the matrix of Neoclassicism. A style of the
late 18th century, Neoclassicism was exemplified by Jacques-Louis
David’s paintings and the sculptures of Antonio Canova. Neoclassical
artists, in homage to the Greek and Roman Classical tradition,
crystallized their subject matter to a pure, harmonious form with a
sober clarity and a subdued sense of color. The static, rigorous
frontal view of a figure in the shallow picture plane of Neoclassical
practice was often also utilized by Mapplethorpe, with striking and
beautiful results. Mapplethorpe’s photographs exemplify classical
ideals of form and proportion with their controlled relationships
between light and shadow, balance and asymmetry, beauty and obscenity,
while at the same time clearly reflecting both a Classical and highly
contemporary interest in the human body.
Since Mapplethorpe's untimely death in 1989, his work has been the
subject of numerous exhibitions in museums throughout the world,
including several major traveling retrospectives. His work is widely
collected, and he is unquestionably considered to be one of the most
important photographers of the twentieth century.
Image: Robert Mapplethorpe
Alistair Butler
1980
gelatin silver print
edition of 10 plus 2 APs
20 x 16 inches (51 x 41 cm)
MAP-488
Sean Kelly
528 West 29th Street
New York, NY 10001
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from 11am until 6pm and Saturday from 10am until 6pm. After July 4th summer hours are Monday through Friday from 11am until 5pm.