Bob

Sean Kelly Gallery  presents 50 Americans, an exhibition  featuring  works by Mr.  Robert Mapplethorpe. Selected by Fifty people, one from each state.  Each picked artwork from over 2,000 images in Mapplethorpe’s wide catalog.  A lot of the chosen few were not familiar with his work.  Each image included in the exhibition will be accompanied by a text that explains why the participant who selected it found it to be meaningful. 

Robert Mapplethorpe is undoubtedly one of the most talented, prolific, and controversial contemporary American artists. Before his untimely death in 1989, he created a remarkable body of work that is unrivaled in breadth and scope. This exhibition will offer a unique opportunity to see two portraits emerge. While the exhibition primarily affords a fresh look at Mapplethorpe and his practice, it also offers a portrait of the tastes and concerns of the exhibition’s curators: everyday Americans.

 He took his first photographs using a Polaroid camera, and later became known for his portraits of artists, architects, socialites, stars of pornographic films, members of the S&M community, and an array of other unique people, many of whom were personal friends. During the early 1980s, his photographs shifted to emphasize classical formal beauty, concentrating on statuesque male and female nudes, flowers, still lifes, and formal portraits.

Robert Mapplethorpe: 50 Americans will be on view at the Sean Kelly Gallery NY from May 6 – June