Talk:Robert Mapplethorpe

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[edit] Benjamin Greene

I'm not sure that the "Benjamin Greene" reference is correct. Robert worked a great deal with a gay porn actor/model named Thomas (whose last name escapes me). His porn name was Joe Simmons, and he passed away in '96. Is there a source for this name "Benjamin Greene"? If not, it should be removed or modified.

[edit] "homoerotic"

I have to say that it seems as if this article highly glosses over the fact that MAJOR portions of Mapplethorpe's work (certainally at least 25% of it) were hardly simply "homoerotic", but in fact graphic, sexually explicit photographs of controversial sexual acts such as fisting and so forth... Pacian 06:44, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)

  • I added a sentence describing Mapplethorpe's famous (or infamous) bullwhip pic, since he received a great deal of publicity for this photo. I have to wonder, is it really accurate to say:

    He is perhaps best remembered, however, for his series of closeup photographs of flowers. These highly polished and stylized photographs showed the plants' reproductive parts in extreme detail, intended to echo his more conventional homoerotic works. Mapplethorpe's treated his prints like paintings; he employed special printing techniques and gave them exotic frames.

    IMO, to the extent people have heard of Mapplethorpe at all, they think of the bullwhip pic and the NEA controversy. Firebug 06:52, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] added some more information

Hi there
Good call above, I think.

I've added information about where Mapplethorpe is buried and one especially notable book of his photographs that was issued after his death. I think the article could benefit from a list of his commonly available photography books, such as The Black Book, Ten by Ten, etc. I'll try to put one together, but if anyone would like to start, go for it...

Should I put Autoportrait in the bibliography? Is that where a list of his own work would go as well?

Cheers.

Math Tinder 04:14, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Photos

More fair use images should be added for a more representative display of his work. I'm collecting some high quality scans to consider for this... Any suggestions for works to include? Including more images would be consistent with other articles about artists, such as Rembrandt. Tomyumgoong 17:50, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

We should have a representative sample of each of the major genres in which he worked. I would especially encourage you to include some of his great floral prints that are frequently overlooked. The hard part will be finding fair use images. SteveHopson 18:06, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
I agree entirely. Flowers, self portraits, celebrity portraits, gay bondage, some of his work with the female body and so on. Tomyumgoong 18:23, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
I'd kind of like to see someone upload one of his self-portraits - he did so many and it seems like a shame that none are on here. One which would be particularly appropiate and ironic, considering his status as a lightning-rod for controversy, would be the photo of him holding a gun standing underneath and inverted pentagram. Does anyone know if any of these are fair use? LittleRoughRhinestone 23:35, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The infamous "bullwhip" photo

I don't believe that the link which is posted, which purportedly links to Mapplethorpe's "bullwhip" photo, is correct. There are at least two, maybe three self-portraits which Mapplethorpe made of himself with some kind of whip inserted into his anal cavity (like this one [1], for example), and the one that is linked to seems to have the least potential out of all of them to shock or offend. Could someone knowledgeable clear this up, potentially? LittleRoughRhinestone 23:33, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Is there a legal problem in putting the above link in the article? Would it break copyright, for instance? Michael Glass 00:47, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
As no-one has commented, I have put the link into the article. Michael Glass 00:54, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Weasel Words

The general feeling of the section I tagged seems to be defending Mapplethorpe and using loaded language to criticize the vies of his opponents. Any thoughts? --Scorpios 20:13, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

I have removed words that appeared to sanitise the article. Any feedback? Michael Glass 01:04, 7 March 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Mapplethorpe Tryptics

I just finished watching "Dirty Pictures", a docudrama about the Cincinnati trial. In that they made many references to his Tryptics. Pictures that have more artistic merit as a set than they do apart. I just tried looking up more information on this and found nothing. Can anybody add a section here expanding on this topic? Gbeacock 07:54, 27 March 2007 (UTC) Gord Beacock

    The word is spelled "triptych."  Maybe that will help. TJLink 19:42, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Weasel words

  • This controversy was not accidental, as Mapplethorpe intended to use his unquestionable skills as a classic photographer to display gay sexuality. Mapplethorpe's work functions in a postmodern sense on many levels and raises a variety of questions regarding the lexicon of the classic male nude and its tie to sexuality, the role and construction of gender and sexuality in society, the role of form and content in traditional and contemporary art, the communicative aspect of imagery, and censorship issues regarding museum space, tax dollars, and, in a general sense, all imagery.

I removed the above section as it is written in a gushing, fan-site tone of adoration not suitable for an encyclopaedia and without sources it constitutes personal opinion at worst, original research at best. --Brideshead 09:17, 7 May 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Death

I think it is worth having some information about how he died. He died of AIDS in 1989, I think it is worth including this detail in his biography. I actually visited this page to find out how he died, but I had to look elsewhere.Wizlop (talk) 13:37, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] References

Particularly about the UCE controversy. Can we get some? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.179.88.59 (talk) 16:53, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Clarification on UCE controversy

The article about the UCE controversy needs to be clarified. It does not give a comprehensive description of the explicit photo's themselves. 69.18.107.10 (talk) 04:38, 16 February 2008 (UTC)