Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe's delicately composed photographs of flowers decorate living room walls throughout the world. Equally artistic are his honest, sometimes frank portrayals of homosexuality and leather culture. A master craftsman who wove Catholic symbolism into starkly arranged portraits, Mapplethorpe was hailed as a genius throughout the art world. In Washington he was practically lynched.

In June 1989 the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., cancelled an exhibit of Mapplethorpe's work due to pressure from conservative congressmen and senators. Protests ensued, tied in with an already raging controversy over the defunding of a group of artists, dubbed the NEA Four, who dealt with sexual and gay themes.

At the same time, Mapplethorpe's death from AIDS drove up prices of his prints. In a protest/street party, Mapplethorpe images were projected on the outside walls of the Corcoran. The nearby Washington Project for the Arts picked up the exhibit at great expense.

In 1990, when the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center decided to show the photos, a firestorm of controversy swept the southern Ohio "queen city," stirring more debate about arts funding, censorship, and the role of erotic images in Middle America. Then-director Dennis Barrie was almost jailed, but charges were eventually dropped.

While the National Endowment for the Arts remains imperiled and cautious about "gay" art, Mapplethorpe's brilliant photography remains a testament to artistic freedom.

Cheat Sheet

Stats:

Born in Queens, New York, in 1942

Studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn

Started taking Polaroids in 1970

Died at the age of 42

Showtime recently aired a docudrama about the Cincinnati controversy.

Quote:

"I was a Catholic boy; I went to church every Sunday. A church has a certain magic and mystery for a child. It still shows in how I arrange things. It's always little altars."

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