Skip to Content

The Arts Intel Report

Robert Mapplethorpe Curated by Edward Enninful

Robert Mapplethorpe, Ken Moody and Robert Sherman, 1984.

Mar 2 – Apr 6, 2024
7 rue Debelleyme, 75003

Edward Enninful may have recently vacated his throne as editor in chief of British Vogue, but he remains one of our foremost connoisseurs of photography. At Thaddaeus Ropac, Enninful was given carte blanche to go through the archives of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation and then curate an exhibition based on his thoughts about the artist. “Mapplethorpe wanted to disrupt the idea of what a portrait is,” Enninful explains. “And I’ve always wanted to disrupt the idea of what fashion is—what people consider as beautiful or not has always been fascinating to me.” For the show, he’s chosen to arrange 46 prints into provocative pairings, allowing us to see Mapplethorpe’s most famous works from a different perspective. —Elena Clavarino

Photo: Robert Mapplethorpe/© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation