Opening to the public on April 10, the exhibition Robert Mapplethorpe. Le forme del classico celebrates the American artist with an immersive journey through nudes, portraits, still lifes, and experimental works that challenge the boundaries between art, desire, and identity.
“Mapplethorpe uses photography to reinterpret and renovate classical aesthetics, highlighting the dialogue between living body and ideal sculpture […] Mapplethorpe melts marble-like limbs for sensual beauty to emerge, throbbing under rigidity, and enjoying new life.” In just a few words, curator Denis Curti renders the visual essence of one of the most iconic protagonists of international photography. 200+ pieces, many unpublished in Italy before, for an exhibition produced by Marsilio Arte and Fondazione Giorgio Cini in cooperation with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation of New York.
Stanze della Fotografia offer an immersive journey into Mapplethorpe’s photography and his research of formal perfection, plasticity of shapes, and sensuality of composition. Male and female nudes and flower still life expose the artist’s attention for light and detail. Included in the exhibition are portraits of protagonist of the culture and art world of the twentieth century. The photographer’s self-portraits, loaded in symbolism and provocation, look deep into his constant reflection on the self and on the border between public image and personal identity.
