After seeing all of Robert Mapplethorpe’s work at Guggenheim museum 2019. 

Your my Inspiration.

Thank you!! Miss Patricia for letting us know about this. I’m so glad I got see this.

 

I’m looking for the unexpected. I’m looking for things I’ve never seen before —-

                                                                                                   Robert Mapplethorpe, Art News, 1988

Robert Mapplethorpe to being with I was seeing his work for the very first time in an actual museum display and  not through my desktop screen. I have admired his work from the day I saw it in class. His creativity in pristine form comes screaming at you when you look at his work. As I and my friend walked through the museum seeing all his work I could not stop but notice the vividness and variety that is work consists of starting with his own portraiture or someone else in the frame they are all so impeccably composed to fit the photo frame. One more eye-opener was how easily he has invaded the private space of humans and made art out of it beautiful art to fight different causes and issues that Robert was trying to portray during that time.( Homoeroticism  and Racism). I noticed in his work that he focused mainly on themes like self -portraiture where he portrayed the personal battles of life he was going through (one of the major one was to be diagnosed with AIDS 1986). Children were a vital part of his work and all his photographs of children showcase innocence and their playful behavior. Robert also captured celebrities and artist of that time beautifully with hidden sense of humor to all his pictures in my opinion. When I saw all his works related to human body the only thought that came to me at first sight was the murals I have seen back in India in ancient places like “Hampi” which are carved on stones. I was also curious as to why most of his male models were black men and then when later found that Robert had chosen them because “He chose black models because, as his biographer Patricia Morrisroe suggested, ‘he could extract a greater richness from the color of their skin”. I am true fan now of Robert Mapplethorpe.

My short trip to the museum was so enlightening to me and gave inspiration to make my final project about a cause I really care about something that is close to me and I want to see that change in the society we live in. Thus, I decided to combine my two most favorite classes ARS 281 and PHI 105 to create art like Robert Malleptrope that have meaning and a story behind each picture that he clicked.This trip will never be forgotten and I hope to see more photographer’s works and explore and learn more about from all the great photographers.