Robert Mapplethorpe, Beyond the Scandal – Venice

Venezia – while Venice is preparing for the next big one ArchitectureThere is an exhibition that the art lovers They have to put on the agenda. I am talking about the exhibition “Robert Mapplethorpe. The forms of the classic“, set to The rooms of photography On the island of San Giorgio and who will remain open to the public until January 6, 2026. This exhibition, compiled by Denis Courtsoffers an important chance to rediscover the work of the American photographer through cliche who have accompanied the story of this artist in recent decades. Produced by Marsilio Arte in collaboration with the Giorgio Cini Foundation and the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation Van New York has made the exhibition more than 200 original photos, beautiful “vintage” prints by Mapplethorpe itself and from the New York Foundation collections, a refined and aesthetic, reflective selection with which visitors can appreciate the quality and brilliant maniac of Mapplethorpe in the world, because we rarely have the possibility.

Even more important, if possible it is The new curatorial approach With whom Denis Curti approached the story of Mapplethorpe who differs from the traditional story of the artist as a transgressive and provocative figure, often associated with erotic or pornographic content. Instead, the Venetian exhibition focuses on the search for Mapplethorpe of ideal beauty and formal perfection, elements that bring it closer to the tradition of classical sculpture. The artist himself said that if he was born a few centuries earlier, he would probably have been a sculptor. It is precisely starting with this reflection that the entire project aims to move his figure in a broader artistic context, that of the representation of man through photography that is understood as mainly figurative art.

The photos shown vary between male and female nudes, portraits of celebrities such as Patti Smith” Lisa Lyon” Andy Warhol E Susan Sontag, E flower death. In all works the manner of use of light and composition, which transforms topics into classical beauty icons. The choice to only present original prints made by Mapplethorpe itself gives exposure an extra value, so that “the technical quality and artistic intention of the author can” see “.

The Venice exhibition is part of a larger exhibition project dedicated to Mapplethorpe, which will continue in 2026 with “the forms of desire” in Milan A Royal Palace and “the forms of beauty” in Rome already ARA Pacis Museum. The goal explained is to offer a complete vision of the work of the photographer, to explore the various facets of his artistic production and its evolution over time, thereby avoiding reductive and pre -packaged measurements.

Recently other important exhibitions have confronted Mapplere’s work from different perspectives. In that sense, the road to this reinterpretation of Mapplethorpe in a less obvious key is certainly the exhibition Canova between innocence and sinwhich was set up at the Mart of Rovereto At the beginning of 2021 and 2022 Vittorio Sgarbi (together with the curators Beatrice Avanzi one Denis Isaiah) wanted to place the sculptures of Antonio Canova in dialogue with the photos of Mapplethorpe, in which the common search for ideal beauty and formal perfection is emphasized. On the contrary, the exhibition Robert Mapplethorpe. Choreography for an exhibitionset to Mother Museum Van Naples (December 15, 2018 – April 22, 2019), adopted a more provocative approach, aimed at the performative and transgressive aspect of the artist’s work. Edited by Laura Valente one Andrea VilianiThe exhibition included – It goes without saying – a “dark room” in which explicit photos were exhibited (I still enjoy the “shock” of a dear friend of Ravello who had accompanied me and who was well thought out for a “Mapplethorpian” Cocks), who emphasized the most controversial side of the production of Mapplethorpe. It was good and not outrageous, for heaven’s sake. And if you remember the controversies of the censorship that emerged in the 1980s, but also in the following decades through many policys, it was logical to tell this aspect too. This approach, albeit consistent with an important part of Mapplethorpe’s work, has limited the artist in a scandalistic niche for many years – perhaps useful for making a title on the page In “enlightened” newspapers – but in my opinion the complexity and refinement of Robert Mapplethorpe’s artistic vision, which in the Denis Curti exhibition eventually disguised in the exhibition of Denis, which we finally find.

In this context, the Venetian exhibition stands out for the merit to have passed on the simplifications and that they have returned a more articulated dimension to the work of Mapplethorpe, which emphasizes The tension between body and shape, meat and idealization, matter and eternity. It is not an exhibition about scandal, but on art.

Another annotation, perhaps no less important, this for photography rooms is also an extraordinary “nostalgia“To rediscover, enlightened by the faces and bodies by Mapplethorpe, many of that extraordinary world that pulsed between New York and Los Angeles in the 80s and early 90s. Really indispensable.

To deepen the search on Robert Mapplethorpe:

Il Giornale Dell’Arte https://www.ilgiornaledellarte.com/mostre/lappoccio-classico-degativi-di-Mapplethorpe/144122.html




Arte.it https://www.arte.it/calendario-arte/venezia/mostra-robert-mapplethorpe-le-le-classico-101193



The Rooms of Photography – Giorgio Cini Foundation https://www.lestanzedellafotografia.it/mostre/robert-mapplethorpe-le-forme-del-classico




Mother Museum – Show “Choreography for a Exhibition” https://www.madrenapoli.it/evento/robert-mapplethorpe-coreografia-per-una-mostra/




Mart Rovereto – Show “Canova between innocence and sin” https://www.mart.tn.it/mostre/mostra/canova-tra-incenza-e-peccato/12933