Robert Mapplethorpe

X Portfolio series

Selenium-toned gelatin silver prints, 19,5 x 19,5 cm (image), 34 x 32,4 cm (sheet)

1978

Cedric, N.Y.C.

Jim, Sausalito

Jim and Tom, Sausalito

Patrice, N.Y.C.

Scott, N.Y.C.

Joe, N.Y.C.

Ken, N.Y.C.

Helmut, N.Y.C.

John, N.Y.C.

Helmut and Brooks, N.Y.C.

Lou, N.Y.C.

Dick, N.Y.C.

Self-Portrait, N.Y.C.

Incident:

1989. Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment exhibition, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington.

1990. Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment exhibition, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati.

2018. Pictures exhibition, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Oporto.

In the 1990s, this series became one of the targets of America’s so-called “culture war”, where it was debated whether art that was considered controversial should receive public funding. In 1990, the director of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, having exhibited the series, was tried for pornography. He was acquitted by a jury. In 2018, the art director of the Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves in Oporto resigned after some of Mapplethorpe’s images were censored in an exhibition.

Biography:

Robert Mapplethorpe (New York, 1946 - Boston, 1989) is one of the most important American photographers of the 20th century, famous for his images of male nudes with sadomasochistic aesthetics. His work has been the subject of numerous retrospectives in art centres on several continents.