Autoportrait

by Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard D. Marshall (Introduction)

The early 1970s witnessed the emergence and convergence of body art, performance, earth art, video, narrative, and photography-based art that sought to break the stronghold of minimalism (an art of pure form and materials) and conceptualism (the art of pure idea). In this context, Robert Mapplethorpe was an artist who infused art with personal reference, subjective expression, and allusion to real time and emotion. Among the foremost subjects and objects that Mapplethorpe pursued were the self, the body, body parts, sexual organs, and sexuality.Mapplethorpe's earliest and most frequent subject was himself, in various guises, activities, and states of arousal that celebrated his ego, his body, and his sexual desires. The subject of nudity, sex, and self was a primary focus in Mapplethorpe's work. Mapplethorpe acknowledged that "I was working with other peoples' pictures from pornographic magazines. I thought it would be more interesting if I had my own pornographic images, so I got a Polaroid camera to make more images".

The black-and-white Polaroid photographs that Mapplethorpe produced during the early 1970s constitute an in-depth self-portrait, intently and graphically exploring expressions, moods, postures, and actions that range from angelic and innocent to sinister and erotic. In addition, Mapplethorpe did not completely reject minimal and conceptual concerns, but transformed them into his own aesthetic. Autoportrait, the first publication dealing exclusively with Mapplethorpe's self-portrait Polaroids, presents the artist's most revealing attempts to wed the erotic and sexual with other theoretical concerns.

Autoportrait confirms Mapplethorpe's aesthetic alignment withother artists of his generation, while simultaneously presenting Mapplethorpe's singular vision that helped shift the direction of late-twentieth-century art.

Genres: Photography, Art

144 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer whose mastery of black-and-white composition and provocative subject matter made him a central, often polarizing, figure in 20th-century art. Born in Queens, New York, and raised in a strict Catholic household, he studied graphic arts at the Pratt Institute before immersing himself in the vibrant 1960s Manhattan art scene. During this time, he began a lifelong creative partnership and friendship with musician Patti Smith, an association that would prove foundational to both of their careers.
Mapplethorpe’s early work utilized Polaroid photography, but his practice evolved significantly after meeting curator and mentor Sam Wagstaff in 1972. By the mid-1970s, he had adopted the Hasselblad medium-format camera, using its precision to explore subjects ranging from statuesque nudes and delicate still-life flowers—most notably orchids and calla lilies—to formal portraits of celebrities like Andy Warhol and Debbie Harry. However, he is perhaps most famous for his unflinching documentation of New York’s gay BDSM subculture. His work in this area sought to imbue the erotic with the grandeur and nobility of classical sculpture, often utilizing highly formal, statuesque compositions that referenced religious and Renaissance imagery.
Posthumously, Mapplethorpe became a catalyst for the American "culture wars." His 1989 traveling exhibition, The Perfect Moment, sparked a fierce national debate over public funding for the arts and the constitutional limits of free speech. The controversy led to the Corcoran Gallery of Art canceling the show and resulted in an obscenity trial for the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, though the museum was eventually acquitted.
Mapplethorpe died at age 42 from complications related to HIV/AIDS. Before his passing, he established the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to protect his legacy and fund medical research for HIV/AIDS treatment. Today, his work is held in major institutional collections, including the Guggenheim and the Getty Museum, where it continues to be celebrated for its technical perfection and its bold exploration of the human form and sexual identity.

Reviews

[Noora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let this be known as the first collection of Mapplethorpe I laid my eyes on.

ACTUAL FOOTAGE FROM INSTAGRAM STORY WHILE I WAS READING THIS







Honestly, I felt like I was missing so much of queer art history without knowing Mapplethorpe. I've known his name for years and never got around to actually looking into him. I'm so glad I did! and you all should too!

Also, Matt Smith is playing him in a biopic real soon. And he looks absolutely stunning! I'm always proud of Matt Smith. He doesn't look quite as charming and gorgeous as Mapplethorpe himself im kidding hes fabulous, but he's brilliant nevertheless.






Moral of the Story: Look up Mapplethorpe if you don't know him, watch Mapplethorpe's biopic's teaser starring Matt Smith, and know your queer history. Cheers.

[Cat · Rating 1 out of 5]

This collection of unpublished early polaroids by Robert Mapplethorpe sounds good in theory but there's a reason they weren't published. They're not good images. I didn't really need to see quite so many pictures of Mapplethorpe's dick either.

[Stéphanie Amesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of Mapplethorpe's early selfies.