Learning about love (Patti Smith) at
Robert Mapplethorpe's Retrospective
The Robert Mapplethorpe
retrospective at Grand Palais has truly ignited my obsession with his life long love affair with the elusive icon - and author of Just Kids - Patti Smith. It is an enthralling story of
unconditional friendship, which goes deeper than sex, co-habitation or even
fidelity. Above all, they bonded through their work and felt by magnified by the other in
every aspect of their lives.
Mapplethorpe
was born into a Catholic family in Queens; his religious upbringing is
referenced throughout the exhibition as with the stirringly nihilistic piece, Christ 1988, which juxtaposes his somewhat
obscene pornographic imagery.
Tragedy struck when his successful career was cut
short by his 1986 AIDS diagnosis and premature death. The disease is an
important theme throughout the exhibition as is the atmosphere in New York and
how the liberation of sexuality was perceived. He underlines this by saying
that, “these pictures could not have been done at any other time”.
By 1969 he had moved into the
Chelsea hotel with other emerging artists like Patti Smith and began using
controversial homosexual imagery in his work. My favourite two pieces
illustrating this were Two men dancing
– in which they intimately sway in unison, naked except for the crowns on their
heads – and the simplistic Embrace,
1982 which shows the embrace of a black man and a white man thus defying the crippling racism that burdened the States.
In 1973 Mapplethorpe hosted his first Polaroid
exhibition at the Light Gallery, but he was always very clear that he considered
his work to be works of art before photography. The 1983 self-portrait with a knife symbolises the provocative nature of
work. In 1983 he and Andy Warhol produced portraits of each other, which
captured the pair's shared mission to truthfully record the
atmosphere of 1980s New York. Like Warhol he captured the burgeoning cult of
celebrating in images like his Calvin Klein-esque portrait of Richard Gere –
now known to us as the Pretty Woman sex symbol – in a simple pair of blue
jeans.
There was a certain depth of
emotion, entwined in every piece. Be it attributed to his
close relationships with his subjects or his passion for the aesthetic
perfection of anything from the human body to flowers, the night to sexuality. As he declared, “I have boundless admiration for the naked body,
I worship it”. Visibly, the influence of classical sculpture was strong and he
admired the Renaissance master Michelangelo’s use of muscular physiques in his
work, which led him to take the world bodybuilding champion Lisa Lydon as his
muse. The 1982 portrait of her holding her nipples with a confrontational gaze
towards the audience is symptomatic of themes eroticism lingering throughout.
I watched an interview with
Patti Smith at a book festival in which she described her first encounters with
her life long lover and friend Robert Mapplethorpe. It began by chance
when she was looking for friends in Brooklyn and walked into their old rooms to find a young man who resembled a ‘shepherd boy’, sleeping peacefully. He
then woke up and smiled at her and she says that she knew he was something special;
they were also only a month apart in age.
On their second chance meeting
he strolled into the bookshop where she worked uptown and there were hundreds
of pieces of ethnic jewellery spread out, but she loved just one Persian necklace
that she couldn’t afford. Mapplethorpe walked into the store by chance one
afternoon to spend his last coins. Of all the jewellery he spent he selected
her necklace and after wrapping it up she boldly declared, “Don’t give it to
any girl but me” and he replied, “I won’t”. But, they still did not
exchange names or details until their third meeting.
Days later she was so hungry when she
missed a pay cheque that when some 'strange guy' asked her for dinner, she
defied her mother’s advice, “not to take anything from strangers, because they
usually want something in return”. After dinner this stranger asked her up to his
apartment as they sat on a dingy park bench and she was afraid. Suddenly
Robert randomly appeared down the pathway and she ran up to him begging him to
pretend to be her boyfriend. They ran away together and when they sat on a stoop
to catch their breath, she said, “you saved my life, what’s your name?” She
didn’t like ‘Bob’, so she renamed him ‘Robert’ and everyone else followed suit.
In 1967 they started dating and
she featured in a series of particularly poignant portraits 1975-8. A couple of my favourites were he
sitting naked on a floor clutching the pipes against a wall and her standing
with an androgynous suit jacket over her shoulder. But, the most stirring portrait has
to be the juxtaposition of his wild haired lover with the dove on her wrist -
the ultimate symbol of peace in religion. But, she was his consistency, she was
his religion now.
HIs retrospective is utterly
mesmerizing, because it exposes all aspects of the life of this iconic photographer for all
to see; the good, the bad and the ugly. It captures the deep intensity of his relationships, his wavering beliefs, his experimental sexuality and the raw pain he suffered. I would urge you to submerge yourself in his work, because you may lean something about yourself.
Cafe Marcel,
90 Quai de Jemmapes,
Canal St Martin
After an rather intense afternoon, we headed back to the Canal for a little sustenance. Cafe Marcel is one of my
favourite restaurants in Paris, because of its refreshing take on Indian cuisine within a
somewhat sultry, yet shabby chic setting. Most tables face the canal, which
makes for indulgent people watching as the usual buzz of activity floods onto Canal St Martin's banks after sunset. The decor is reminiscent of a speakeasy with cosy arm
chairs, low cobalt blue tables and delicate vintage lamps. The rose cocktails
and wine list are all too tempting, but it’s the food that is fabulous.
The fun
is in the sharing and my Mauritian friends and I feasted on Himalayan salads
groaning with tropical fruit, fried rice, spicy salmon curry, exquisite
beetroot and mint dip and chargrilled vegetables. I would highly recommend
Marcel as the ideal spot to capture atmosphere of bohemian evenings on the
Canal, but without 'roughing it' with a picnic.
