An important exhibition in KUNSTHAL / Rotterdam. To be shown until the 27th of August there is a large Retrospective on Robert Mapplethorpe, one of the great photographers from last century who died sadly from HIV in 1989.
https://www.kunsthal.nl/nl/plan-je-bezoek/tentoonstellingen/robert-mapplethorpe/
Robert Mapplethorpe ( November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, known for his sensitive yet blunt treatment of controversial subject-matter in the large-scale, highly stylized black and white medium of photography. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits and still-life images of flowers. His most controversial work is that of the underground BDSM scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s of New York City. The homoeroticism of this work fueled a national debate over the public funding of controversial artwork.
This is the text which Wikipedia uses to describe Mapplethorpe in a nutshell, but what is less known is that Mapplethorpe exhibitions were held in the Netherlands at a very early stage of his career in galerie Jurka. His earliest exhibition over there was in 1979, well before his works were collected and appreciated by many.
“Robert Mapplethorpe: 1970-75,” Robert Samuel Gallery, New York
Texas Gallery, Houston, Texas
“Contact,” Robert Miller Gallery, New York
Galerie Jurka, Amsterdam
“Trade Off,” International Center of Photography, New Y
La Remise du Parc Gallery, Paris
“Film and Stills,” Robert Miller Gallery, New York
The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia
Langton Street Gallery, San Francisco, California
Simon Lowinsky Gallery, San Francisco, California
La Remise du Parc Gallery, Paris
Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California
“Portraits,”Holly Solomon Gallery, New York
“Flowers,” Holly Solomon Gallery, New York
“Erotic Pictures,” The Kitchen, New York
“Polaroids,”Light Gallery, New York
This exhibition means his photographs will come back to the Netherlands and one can see for himself what development and progression Mapplethorpe has made since his first exhibitions over here. And yes… the Jurka catalogue from 1980 is available at www.ftn-books.com
