Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Robert Mapplethorpe


Self Portrait, 1975



Lydia Cheng, 1987



Tulip, 1985




Derrick Cross, 1983,
all pictures: THE ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE FOUNDATION 


When I was 19, I went to New York City to study dance. - A big step in many ways: Leaving little Bergen, Norway; getting overwhelming challenges as a dance student; and discovering some amazing art museums.

A Robert Mapplethorpe retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1988) was the first show I saw.

Look at that playful guy in the top picture.
- Isn't there some of the same playfulness in the next two photos?
Do you see the beautiful lines and proportions? A stringent abstraction is accentuated by the black and white format, particularly in the tulip picture.
- And the way that last photo has been composed: What a beautiful shape...

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