“To make pictures big,” the American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe once said, “is to make them more powerful.” From his classical studies to his fierce declarations of gay male sexuality, Mapplethorpe’s work reverberates with power. This exhibition is curated by the American video artist Arthur Jafa, who has arranged silver gelatin portraits, still lifes, and rarely exhibited Polaroids to reveal new readings of Mapplethorpe’s art. The sequencing of the work creates a dialogue, a dance, between Jafa and Mapplethorpe. —E.C.
The Arts Intel Report
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
Robert Mapplethorpe
When
Apr 1–24, 2021
Where
Etc
Robert Mapplethorpe, “Barbara Hairston,” 1983 © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission.