English
One of the main attractions at Festival Off PHotoEspaña 2011 which takes place in Madrid this July is the selection of 31 photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe chosen by Pedro Almodóvar for Galería Elvira González (http://www.galeriaelviragonzalez.com/). The collection spans 13 years, starting from 1976 up until 1989 when the great American photographer died of AIDS.
It is hard to think of a person better-suited to this particular job than Almodóvar. Basing his choice on a pre-selection already made by the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Almodóvar has provided his personal retrospective of the work of one of the most suggestive, interesting, iconic and influential photographers of the twentieth century. Like Mapplethorpe, Almodóvar’s work is characterized by a mix of formal and stylistic classicism, clean and rigorous aestheticism and a willingness to deal with themes which are on the borderlines of what is socially acceptable.
Of course, it is impossible to imagine the work of either without the inspiration of Warhol and the world he created in The Factory: that vibrant lighthouse of creativity, halfway between Camelot and the Cour des Miracles, which opened its doors to a memorable group of artists, drug-takers, transvestites and musicians who blurred the lines between the sexes, high culture and low culture, and art and modern life.
Mapplethorpe and his inseparable friend and ally Patti Smith, both hungry for art and catharsis, lived during the death throes of the 60s, prowling around Max’s Kansas City rock club each night, rubbing shoulders with Warhol and his entourage.
Almodóvar could be said to have continued the legacy of Warhol during the 70s and 80s – the underground years of what is known as the Movida madrileña (the Madrilenian Movement).
His selection of photos, many of which have high level of erotic content, covers four of the artist’s favourite themes: bodies, penises, flowers (impossible to see without thinking of the highly suggestive paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe) and rock (Mapplethorpe was behind one of the most famous and iconic photos ever: the cover of the seminal Patti Smith album, Horses).
Paul Oilzum
Don´t miss this moving exhibition when you rent apartments in Madrid .
Translated by: Ben Palmer
