Mapplethorpe

R. and I did make it to the Mapplethorpe exhibition, probably to the irritation of other viewers. We like to talk about art while we view it and bounce ideas around, though we do make the effort to whisper. As always, I get more out of exhibitions by sharing them, especially with R.

R. had seen it before and described it as 'confrontational', but it's in no way 'pornographic', being so monochrome, stylised, posed and geometric. There's a great deal of poise, control and rigour in the images. There are penises, three (I think) erect, but in such poses of stillness like an indrawn, held breath. The sitters engage the lens with direct, soulful and sometimes amused gazes. Body parts are carefully framed, disembodied but personalised, as in a torso which contains a hidden face with nipples for eyes and the navel as a pursed mouth. Androgyny is a strong feature in the portraits- Patti Smith as a man with breasts, Iggy Pop with his incredible fringe of feminine eyelashes, 'Smutty' a vulnerable boygirl with tattoos, a female bodybuilder with tiny hips and big breasts. None of the S&M images were frightening, at least to me, but contained much tenderness. A similar relationship as the self/other opposition inherent in the photographic act. The man in a gimp mask, deaf and blind but with the mouthzip open- waiting, breathing, able to hear only his own heartbeat.

Both R. and I found by far the most disturbing images to be the child portraits, where innocence seems corrupted and knowing in an extreme. Juxtapose the human sitters with the exquisite flower prints, where the veins of the petals and leaves mimic the veins on foreheads, hands or penises. His self-portraits are intensely sad, seeing him age 40 years between 1980 and 1989, as HIV took its toll and mortality became an inside joke for him.