A look back at the iconic style of Robert Mapplethorpe, on what would have been his birthday 🤍
was the epitome of handsome during the rock ‘n’ roll liberalism of 1970's New York. He is also the star of the, a special exhibition featuring intimate self-portraits alongside his photographs of Grace Jones, Roy Lichtenstein, Willem de Kooning and his muse, lover and friend Patti Smith.
Mapplethorpe broke down the sexual taboos of the decade with his erotically charged and controversial photographs of nudity, bondage, prostitution and sadomasochism. He documented social subcultures of the time, challenging racial exploitation and gender boundaries. He himself worked as a hustler, partly for money, partly for curiosity, which he would then feed into his own homoerotic collages which blurred the lines between fashion, art and pornography.
"A wayward provocateur, alive in his underworld of debauchery and erotica, but equally shy and withdrawn" He used imagery of bikers, sailors and cowboys, and his own personal style was a diluted version of this: distressed double denim, leather jackets, sheepskin vests and naval caps, worn with feather necklaces, love beads and coloured handkerchiefs. For years Mapplethorpe, along with Patti Smith, lived day-to-day, sleeping rough and squatting before staying at the notorious Chelsea hotel.
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