Individual Photographers & Professionals, Photo Essays, Portrait Photography - Nudes, Portrait Photography - General & Miscellaneous, Portrait Photography - Rich & Famous, Art of the 1980s and 1990s

Altars

Name: Altars
Author: Edmund White
ISBN: 9780679427216

by Edmund White

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Overview

At the time of his death in 1989 at the age of forty-two, Robert Mapplethorpe was already one of the most important artists of his generation. His elegant nudes, portraits, and still lifes were often overshadowed by the controversy surrounding his more challenging sexual imagery. His work continues to be at the center of national debates over censorship, yet the formality of the work is rarely discussed. He was attracted to icons, altarpieces, and geometry. Referring to the symmetry of his photographs and their arrangement and framing, he once said that he wanted them to be viewed like altars. Altars is the full-color companion volume to the definitive collection of his black-and-white prints, Mapplethorpe, published in 1992. Beginning with his early collages, Polaroids, and unpublished color prints, Altars follows Mapplethorpe's preoccupations with color and geometry through a wide range of subject matter, from intimate portraits of Patti Smith to sadomasochistic rituals. The book ends with the multiple-colored panels of his late, unique photographic pieces, elaborately framed. From the roughest collages to the most refined cloth panels, the presentation of Mapplethorpe's work was vital. Altars continues the definitive publication of one of the most elegant and provocative photographers of our time, revealing the roots of his religiosity as well as the evidence of his controversial nature.

This defintive, full-color reflection of Mapplethorpe's geometric formality and underlying religiosity provides an insight into the art and career of the artist that previous black-and-white volumes cannot. An accompanying essay by Esmund White puts Mapplethorpe into historical, social, sexual, and artistic context. 100 color and duotone plates. 3 gatefolds. Slipcased.

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Editorials

Library Journal

A follow-up to Mapplethorpe, Random House's 1992 catalog of the photographer's most important black-and-white works, this equally lavish slipcased volume introduces readers to more obscure pieces. From collages and polaroids of the early 1970s to Mapplethorpe's color photography and one-of-a-kind sculptural frames built to work as a piece with the special photographs, this tantalizing and eclectic mix leaves the reader wishing for more examples of many of the experiments. Without going into detail on all of the styles, White's (Genet, LJ 9/15/93) essay uses extensive quotes to place the pieces in context, particularly focusing on Mapplethorpe's sexuality and his deep interest in Catholic iconography and architecture-hence the title. While they provide some surprising insights and their study is essential to anyone researching the photographer's ouevre, the pieces included here were not the basis for the artist's reputations-good and ill. As such, Altars is recommended only for larger libraries already possessing the previous collection.-Eric Bryant, "Library Journal"