Robert Mapplethorpe

Born in a suburban area of New York in 1946, Robert Mapplethorpe made his mark as an artist at a seminal time in art history when photography was gaining recognition as a form of art in its own right. Mapplethorpe's work used erotic - most often homoerotic - imagery associated with sub-cultures, which raised questions about ethnicity, gender identity and sexual diversity. His controversial work blurred the boundaries between art and pornography, challenged conservative conceptions of art and it had an enduring impact on contemporary photography. In her 1995 biography of Mapplethorpe, Patricia Morrisroe provided some insightful information on the present photograph. The model, Thomas William, was the artist's frequent companion and muse in the years that preceeded his death in 1989. According to Morrisroe, Mapplethorpe was fascinated by William's sculptural beauty. William inspired Mapplethorpe to produce some of his most accomplished and iconic photographs. Executed around 1987, these compelling formalist compositions showed William's body - in total or in parts - in highly stylized, minimalist, geometrized, black and white settings. Thomas shows a closely framed section of William's upper back and shoulders under slatted lighting, as if the light is filtered by window blinds. The alternating strips of light and shadow on the model's body emphasize his musculature, adding depth, perspective and dynamism to the image. Worthy of note, Mapplethorpe had previously experimented with the optical effects of slatted light on forms in a notable still life composition titled Eggplant (1985). This optical effect is exploited to its full potential in Thomas, unveiling the classical beauty of the model's body, and making this photograph a most compelling demonstration of Mapplethorpe's complete mastery of the medium used, his talent for composition and his strong aesthetic sense, confirming his richly deserved status as one of the great photographers of the twentieth century. The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art are partnering on a major retrospective entitled Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Medium. The exhibition runs in Los Angeles until July 31, 2016 and will travel to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.