Receive Weekly Email and Text Message Updates:
Sign up for latest info on concerts, dining, promotions and more!
Go!

Top

arts

Stories

 
Text Size: A A A

The Fussy Eye: Instant Gratification

Exploring early Mapplethorpe at the Henry.

Robert Mapplethorpe Fdn.

Details

Henry Art Gallery, 15th Ave. N.E. & N.E. 41st St., 543-2280. $6–$10. 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Thurs.–Fri., 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Sat.–Sun. Ends Jan. 31.

Related Content

More About

Shooting with a Polaroid, as Robert Mapplethorpe gradually learned to do in the early '70s, meant that the first draft was the final draft, the sketch the finished product. In these 90 small, black-and-white squares, you can see him searching for his own style. Mainly, however, he's copying others: shooting statuary or posing half-naked friends like statues. The still lifes and NYC rooftops seem borrowed from the f/64 school: Weston, Kertész, and company. Most shots are casual portraits of friends—some later famous, like Patti Smith, some just afternoon quickies. Mapplethorpe's promiscuous eye seems interested in everything: flowers, shoes, cigarette packs, telephones, a coiled vacuum-cleaner hose, even a pair of bats owned by fellow artist Helen Marden hanging upside-down in their cage. The images are better suited to catalog-flipping than walls. The lighting and composition are often amateurish; but then, so was Mapplethorpe (1946–89) at the time. He would refine his skills during the second half of the '70s with a conventional view camera. Then came the '80s notoriety of his polished erotica. What these early Polaroids have is an intimate, in-the-moment proximity to their subjects. There's no distance from the photographer when using such a crude lens. For that reason, one of my favorite images here is a self-portrait of Mapplethorpe's own crossed feet, cuddled together like naked lovers. 

 

Write Your Comment

*indicates required fields. Please enable browser cookies before filling out this form. All reader comments are subject to our Terms of Use. By clicking Add Comment, you acknowledge that you have reviewed and agree to these Terms.

Comments may take a few minutes to process and appear on the site. Please do not click the "Add Comment" button again while your comment is being added.

  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *

    (The four characters are not case sensitive):

Music Recommendations

User content provided by LikeMe.net + Village Voice

Alibi Room

Seattle, WA

The Pink Door

Seattle, WA

Kells Irish Restaurant and Pub

Seattle, WA

Peso's Kitchen and Lounge

Seattle, WA

Umi Sake House

Seattle, WA

The Triple Door

Seattle, WA
Give your recommendations on LikeMe.net >>

Most …

Seattle Weekly on Digg

Classifieds

Employment

Rentals

Now Click This