Robert Mapplethorpe. Additional Crew: Breathless. Robert Mapplethorpe was born on 4 November 1946 in Queens, New York, USA. He was a director, known for Breathless (1983), Lady (1984) and Patti Smith: Still Moving (1978).
Why Was Robert Mapplethorpe’s Passing So Important?The terrible conclusion of Mapplethorpe enacts the symbolism of the artist as a cultural hero. He has been recognized as one of the first celebrity AIDS casualties. His memory is frequently used to symbolize the battle for homosexual rights.Why Were Robert Mapplethorpe’s Nudes Significant?Some of his art was thought to be excessively edgy, bordering on overtly sexual or racist. His early 1980s work, in particular, contained vivid images of S&M-based imagery, as well as his interest in black naked male bodies. This art was not created with an ideological or political framework in mind; rather, he just photographed what he believed was attractive and treated all subjects equally.
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Robert Mapplethorpe’s posthumous art-world apotheosis, heralded this spring by a two-museum exhibition in L.A. and an uncensored HBO documentary, had its seeds in 1970s downtown New York.