Polaroids: Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe was THE photographer of the NYC scene until he was killed by the AIDS virus. (You can think of him as Andy Warhol with a camera) He captures the raw uncovered aspects of Chelsea and the Lower East Side before they were hangouts for the Bridge and Tunnel crowd. Much of his work covers the gay S&M scene so it is not necessarily for the right win conservatives out there.

Currently at the Whitney Museum there is an exhibit entitled "Polaroids: Mapplethorpe". Here is a blurb from their website:

"This special exhibition traces Robert Mapplethorpe's use of instant photography from 1970 to 1975. Created in collaboration with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, the show brings together one hundred objects, many never exhibited before. Included are self-portraits, figure studies, still lifes, and portraits of lovers and friends including Patti Smith, Sam Wagstaff, and Marianne Faithfull. Many of these small, intimate photographs convey tenderness and vulnerability. Others depict a toughness and immediacy that would give way in later years to more classical form. Unlike the highly crafted images Mapplethorpe staged in the studio and became famous for, these disarming pictures are marked by spontaneity and invention. Together, they offer insight into the artist's creative development and reveal his pure delight in seeing at a formative time in his career. The show will be accompanied by a book that places this early work in the context of his life-long artistic production."

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