Robert Mapplethorpe: the male gaze – in pictures

The American photographer’s work altered perceptions and pushed boundaries in relation to the male gaze upon the male body. Charting his personal involvement in New York’s gay scene, Robert Mapplethorpe’s photographs demonstrated a compelling perspective on the underground queer culture of the 1970s and 1980s.

Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Medium, now showing at Art Gallery of New South Wales, showcases a broad selection of his work, from portraits of his contemporaries, including Patti Smith, Cindy Sherman, Debbie Harry and Philip Glass, to self-portraits, floral still lifes and erotic imagery.

• Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Medium, is showing at Art Gallery of New South Wales until 4 March 2018

Captions by Isobel Parker Philip, Curator Photographs, Art Gallery of NSW

Main image: ‘Robert Mapplethorpe: the perfect medium’ at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 27 Oct 2017 – 18 Feb 2018. Photograph: AGNSW/Christopher Snee/All artworks © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission

  • Self-portrait, 1975

    Mapplethorpe was attentive to the nuanced ways identity could be captured and expressed by the camera. Through his self-portraits, he strategically crafted a public image for himself. As comfortable in front of the camera as behind it, Mapplethorpe was playful, defiant and provocative as a subject, establishing an intimate rapport with the viewer through the lens. From frank depictions of his homosexuality to stylised scenes in which he undermined or amplified gender stereotypes, Mapplethorpe’s self-portraits show how his personal life was indivisible from his art.
    Robert Mapplethorpe ‘Self-portrait’ 1975

  • Ken Moody and Robert Sherman, 1984

    This double portrait of two frequently used models, Ken Moody and Robert Sherman, is one of Mapplethorpe’s most well-known works. Shown in profile and side by side, the two men are paralleled figures: one is black, the other is white; one has his eyes closed, the other has his eyes open. Like much of Mapplethorpe’s work, this photograph has been co-opted within political debates, seen as a symbol of race relations, yet it is equally significant as an image that typifies Mapplethorpe’s interest in playing with the tension between oppositional forms.
    'Ken Moody and Robert Sherman’ 1984 platinum photograph

  • Thomas, 1987

    Mapplethorpe speculated that if he had been born in an earlier era, he might have been a sculptor rather than a photographer. In his chosen medium, he underscored the powerful physical presence of his models. With an obsessive attention to detail, he choreographed their statuesque poses and used studio lights to trace the contours of their bodies. His subjects are shot through with dramatic tension and eroticism no matter how benign the scene. A body is never just a body; even so, the classical sensibility that structures these scenes is tempered by a palpable sexual intensity.
    Robert Mapplethorpe ‘Thomas’ 1987

  • Joe, NYC, 1978

    Eroticism was fundamental to Robert Mapplethorpe’s art. As he began to experiment with the photographic medium – developing and refining his own style – in the early 1970s he began to document his involvement in New York’s gay community. As an active participant, not an outside observer, Mapplethorpe produced photographs in which intimate acts are staged for the camera. While they are unflinching and frank, intention lies behind every formal decision; no element is incidental or arbitrary. Mapplethorpe used the camera to distil and refine form, not simply transcribe reality.
    Robert Mapplethorpe ‘Joe, NYC’ 1978

  • Self-portrait, 1980

    More than two decades after his death, Mapplethorpe’s work continues to challenge, inspire and expand the limits of artistic expression. Never afraid to offend or break rules, he changed the way we look at identity, intimacy and form. Asked in 1988 how his work had changed over 20 years, Mapplethorpe responded, “I think the work moves toward a kind of perfection … It’s just a matter of refining.” The artist sought what he called “perfection in form” and cultivated his own mode of classicism whether he was photographing a figure, a fetish or a flower.
    Robert Mapplethorpe ‘Self-portrait’ 1980

  • Larry and Bobby kissing, 1979

    In his photographs of male friends and lovers, Mapplethorpe portrayed an increasingly self-aware and visible community of gay men in New York, San Francisco, London and Paris. He was attentive to the nuanced ways that identity could be captured and expressed by the camera. He was also aware of photography’s ability to convey intimacy unlike any other medium. Through his work, Mapplethorpe not only documented his sexual partners and peers, he disclosed a personal narrative that has, with time, assumed political and historical significance.
    Robert Mapplethorpe ‘Larry and Bobby kissing’ 1979

  • Two men dancing, 1984

    In the early days of the gay liberation movement, any public declaration of homosexuality was a political act. While Mapplethorpe did not identify as an explicit advocate for gay rights, he broadcast his own sexuality and afforded visibility to the gay community. Mapplethorpe developed a pictorial vocabulary that reflected the complexity of homoerotic desire without reinstating existing stereotypes or visual tropes. He derived as much influence from art history as he did from the imagery associated with sadomasochism and leather culture.
    Robert Mapplethorpe ‘Two men dancing’ 1984

  • Ken Moody, 1983

    In the 1980s, Mapplethorpe became largely preoccupied by photographing African American men, subsequently provoking discussions about objectification, race and power. His models are frequently identified by name yet often appear before the lens as aesthetic objects, not subjects with independent agency. However, these photographs can also be seen as documents of collaborative interactions, investigations of power dynamics, and expressions of the artist’s ideal of physical perfection – and partly as ironic or critical statements highlighting stereotypes of African American men.
    Ken Moody, 1983, by Robert Mapplethorpe

  • Self-portrait, 1985

    This self-portrait is a study of motion – a prescient and tragic reminder of Mapplethorpe’s own vulnerability. Diagnosed with Aids in 1986, Mapplethorpe faced his plight with courage and chose to work more ardently than ever. In 1988, he established the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to steward his own work into the future, provide support for other photography-related projects, and help fund Aids research. His final self-portraits are a fitting summation of a practice characterised by the foregrounding and revelation of his personal life.
    Robert Mapplethorpe ‘Self-portrait’ 1985
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