Tuesday 19 October 2010

Fruit and Urn


Robert Mapplethorpe, 1987

The thing that most interests me about this image, and to be honest it is far from a favourite, was the shock that I felt on discovering it was by Mapplethorpe. Perhaps one could argue the subject matter is a major theme he continued to focus on throughout his career, and yet there is this utter deadpan feeling that the image for me exudes.
More like a traditional painting than anything els, the photographic medium Mapplethorpe uses makes the image all the more bizarre and lifeless for me. Don't get me wrong I am a huge fan of Mapplethorpe, and I guess it is an early piece so his full voice has not yet been finely tuned still I guess it show we all start somewhere....

No comments:

Post a Comment