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Robert Mapplethorpe would have been proud of it. It is him, the photographer of scandals and obscenity, according to the self-righteous orthodox, in a temple of art like the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence. The US artist would have been excited to have this dialogue with the supreme Renaissance artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti, whom he adored so much.
“Robert Mapplethorpe, perfection in form” is exhibiting, until 27th September, about a hundred shots by Mapplethorpe directly from the Foundation which bears his name and was created by the photographer a year before his premature death caused by AIDS twenty years ago.
It is the first time that the works of this internationally acclaimed artist of photography are being exhibited in a temple of art like the Accademia of Florence, known worldwide as “Michelangelo’s Museum” for the presence of one of the icons of universal art like the David, along with the Prisoners, but also many important paintings by great masters from the 14th century to the Renaissance.
The curators of the event – Franca Falletti and Jonathan Nelson – from the choice of the title “Robert Mapplethorpe, perfection in form” want to express the profound principle which the artist of photography has in common with the great Renaissance masters and in particular with Michelangelo: the search for balance, precision and clarity inherent in form which tends to perfection through the geometrical rigour of volumes defined by lines and sculpted by light. Mapplethorpe’s thought with regard to this emerges explicitly from his direct words: “I look for perfection in form … One subject or the other does not really make the difference. I try to capture what I think could be sculpture”.
In this sense there is a basis for comparison between Mapplethorpe and Michelangelo. The studied postures of the American artist’s subjects highlight a constructive procedure with elements of sculpture and in this sense it relates to the David and the masterpieces of Florentine painting. Between the human body and still life, two worlds dialogue beyond time, space and cultures. The 20th century looks for answers in the culture of Humanism.
It is not the first time that Michelangelo and the Renaissance have been mentioned with reference to Mapplethorpe. It is trivial to focus just on the occasional and exterior resemblance of positions, muscles and shapes, as the true analogy consists in the profound instance which induces the creative act, in the need to dominate nature through an imposed rule, free from the artist’s emotional or optical point of view. These considerations lead to the theoretical foundation of the exhibition, its true key to interpretation: there is not a real break between classical art and contemporary art. Instead there are historical stages when changes in the way of conceiving and perceiving artistic creation are faster and more radical. However, there are still clear lines of continuity in relation to which the great artists from the past and those of today are always able to find a common language, although with a different perceptivity.
Altogether the works on view which compose the five sections of the exhibition are 111, including Michelangelo’s David and Prisoners, as well as four drawings and a wax model also by Michelangelo.
Mapplethorpe’s 93 works have been selected from the production of his whole artistic activity and all of them, but two, come from the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Among these, next to human subjects, there are also numerous still lives, like flower vases of irises and tulips, in which Mapplethorpe confirms all his attention towards the study of light and shade on the object or the background of the object, or rather of its forms, which give it a clear collocation in space.
Until 27th September 2009
ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE, PERFECTION IN FORM
Galleria dell’Accademia
via Ricasoli, 58-60, Florence
Tel. 055.2654321
www.unannoadarte.it/mapplethorpe
Opening times: From Tuesday to Sunday from 8.15 am to 6.50 pm.
Closed on Monday.
Entrance: Full 10 euros; Reduced 5 euros.
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