venerdì 30 settembre 2016

Denys - Comptine d'Halloween Artist: Denys (Penciller)

Denys - Comptine d'Halloween

Artist: Denys (Penciller)

The Stewardesses by Allan Silliphant United States 1969

The Stewardesses

The Stewardesses is a 1969 softcore, later R-rated, theatrical 3D film produced, directed and written by Allan Silliphant and starring Christina Hart, Monica Gayle, Paula Erickson, and Donna Stanley.
Produced on a budget of just over $100,000, the film grossed $25 million in 1970, becoming the most profitable 3-D film ever released. In budget-relative terms, it remains among the most profitable theatrical movies ever made. Originally self-rated "X," the film was largely re-shot and re-edited to receive an MPAA "R" rating to qualify for a wide general release. At the same time, the technology of the projection print was enhanced by means of anamorphic 3D to a larger image. This later version appeared in final form in 1971.

Plot

A single eventful night in the lives of a crew of Los Angeles-based, trans-Pacific stewardesses. The leading character is killed in a 30-story suicide leap, and the others simply "party," using drugs and engaging in various sexual encounters. One of the girls befriends and beds a returning Vietnam combat soldier.

Production and development

The film was a 35mm 3D soft-sex, "skin-flick" with minimal production value during the first months of distribution. Since it was grossing extremely well, in specialty "adult theaters," Louis Sher and Silliphant decided to repackage their 3D specialty "hit" into a regular R-rated, general release 3D feature film, with a more complex, conventional storyline with reduced nudity and simulated sex activity.
The original version was filmed with only a thematic minimal plot and shown in San Francisco and Los Angeles for a year before national release. The crew was small, and the actors were unknowns, allowing for an initially small budget; as it became a local success, and profits rolled in, Silliphant and Condon would shoot additional scenes and add them to the film. New scenes were shot in both Los Angeles and Hawaii to "open up" the picture, including dialogue and characters on a newer passenger plane interior and cockpit.
The self-imposed X rating was a draw in the early stages, attracting viewers to relatively small theatres showing the 3D film. In the last year, with the official R rating, it was possible to show the film more widely, even in 70mm 3D, in houses like the 4,300-seat Boston Music Hall. Total active run extended three years and was presented in just over 800 theaters (compared to the thousands of play dates usual today). It outsold the higher budget movies in larger theaters. A definitive "R" version was released throughout 1971, and it was played in at least 30 overseas markets, eventually.
The film is also unique in that it may be the only notable film to be extensively re-shot, edited and updated as it played in theaters, according to Allan Silliphant, the Producer-Director. These changes were added as the film continued to hold on in theaters. Probably four versions of the evolving film were played over the three years that the film was in active distribution.
Writer, producer, director, and 3D technologist, Allan Silliphant was the younger half-brother of Academy Award-winning writer and producer Stirling Silliphant. He would later write or direct other low-budget films, and historical documentary films, such as The Navajo Code Talkers. Co-producer and cinematographer Chris Condon, who had founded Century Precision Optics, built innovative, relatively lightweight and portable designs of single-strip 3-D cameras. He would later work on other 3-D films, such as Jaws 3-D. Theatre owner Louis Sher was the executive producer, and used his Art Theatre Guild theatres to display the film coast to coast. Specially trained 3-D technicians would be sent to each and every theater to install the special equipment, and to teach the projectionists how to keep it running. Allan Silliphant is still active in his advocacy of 3D film and digital technology. Chris Condon has been continuously been involved in the 3-D motion picture art and technology ever since. He has lectured at USC, UCLA, and Columbia college and is considered the worlds most experienced consultant for production and projection of theatrical 3-D films. Chris Condon received an Honorary Doctorate from the Institute of Scientific Research, Naples, Italy, 1988. Silliphant continues to be active in the digital 3D world, having patented the Anachrome "compatible" anaglyph method for digital stills and 3D HD broadcast video. His 2010 effort is a line of Canon 5D Mark II-based, professional stereo camera rigs, that offer both motion picture and broadcast 3D in a very compact, and low cost package.
Silliphant and Condon's company, Stereovision International, Inc., actually started a "real life" commercial airline, Sierra Pacific Airlines, which, under different ownership, continues to operate today with a modern jet transport fleet.

3D stereo technology

The film was shot in 35 mm color and projected in a new, single strip, side-by-side polarized format called StereoVision. A year into distribution, an improved format was added, where the image was compressed horizontally in printing, then expanded with an integrated anamorphic, "unsqueezing" lens for projection. Unlike some of prior technologies it was impossible for the two film images to go out of sync, because they were side-by-side on the same strip of film. The film was also released in a few large theaters in 70 mm StereoVision. All showings used sturdier plastic-framed polarized glasses, rather than the familiar paper ones of the 1950s. Silliphant was the original President of StereoVision International Inc., and was the co-inventor of the basic process. In later years Chris Condon developed a slightly different system to show wide-screen 3D. This was used in a number of successful 1980s feature films including Jaws 3-D, the most successful 3-D movie in that era, and Universal's Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn.

Marketing history

The film was uniquely marketed in that it never used a promotional "trailer," but many billboards, radio spots, and always an impressive "road show" treatment on the marquee of the theater. In several cases, the film ran over a year in the same theaters. The ad campaign would state "47th great week," or whatever was the local "hold-over" figure. According to Weekly Variety it was the number-one film of a two-week period in 1971.^{[citation needed]}
By 1976 it had earned a theatrical rentals in North America of $6,878,450.
In 2010-adjusted dollars, the domestic film rentals exceeded $141 million. Having taken in about 300 times its budget, it is, in relative terms, one of the all-time film financial successes.

Home video

In the early days of video, Caballero Control Corporation released a re-edited version of The Stewardesses on VHS and Betamax tape formats, which are now out of print. In creating this XXX version, Caballero edited in hardcore insert shots into the film and re-released it, with the tagline "From 3D to 3XXX" on the tape cover. Although being a non-official XXX version of the film, the original theatrical release credits for The Stewardesses remained intact for this release.
In 2009, the 3D and 2D versions of The Stewardesses became available on DVD. Marking 40 years since its theatrical release, the 2-DVD set also includes 2 pairs of 3D glasses and bonus features.
Blu-ray Release: On Sept 27th, 2016 it was announced on the Home Theater Forum that The Stewardesses will be released by Kino Lorber on Blu-ray December 6th, 2016.

E 'il 1969 e il cielo è veramente cordiale. L'esperienza di un giorno nella vita di un gruppo di hostess dove tutto è permesso-sesso, psichedelici ... e ancora sesso.

Movie Trailer - "The Stewardesses" - 1969 - YouTube

▶ 2:43

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-__C3tCnYYg

22 ago 2009 - Caricato da Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture

Trailer for the original 1969 (It was released twice thereafter, with altered scenes, in 1971 & 1972) release o

The Stewardesses (Abridged Lovage Version) on Vimeo

▶ 15:36

vimeo.com › Douglas Haddow › Videos

28 lug 2010

This is "The Stewardesses (Abridged Lovage Version)" by douglashaddow on Vimeo, the home for high ...

Patricia Fein svestita in The Stewardesses video < ANCENSORED

it.ancensored.com/clip/The-Stewardesses/Patricia-Fein/36792

Patricia Fein Nuda (in questa scena aveva ~??? anni) in The Stewardesses (1969). Altre scene di Patricia Fein nuda in The Stewardesses (1969) ...

Beth Shields svestita in The Stewardesses video < ANCENSORED

▶

it.ancensored.com/clip/The-Stewardesses/Beth-Shields/25021

Beth Shields Nuda (in questa scena aveva ~??? anni) in The Stewardesses (1969). Altre scene di ...

Directed by

	Allan Silliphant (credited as Al or Alf Silliman Jr.)
Produced by	Allan Silliphant Louis K. Sher Chris J. Condon
Written by	Allan Silliphant (credited as Alf Silliman Jr.)
Starring	Christina Hart Monica Gayle Paula Erickson Donna Stanley Michael Garrett
Music by	Jaime Mendoza-Nava (as James Navas)
Distributed by	Sherpix Inc.
Release dates	July 25, 1969
Running time	69 minutes (UK) USA: 93 minutes (U.S.)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$100,000
Box office	$25 million

De Vita - Wisher Artist: Giulio De Vita (Penciller)

De Vita - Wisher

Artist: Giulio De Vita (Penciller)

Backstage Shooting mit Biggi Bardot from Guido Thomasi

Backstage Shooting mit Biggi Bardot

from Guido Thomasi6 months ago

Backstage Shooting mit Biggi Bardot und Guido Thomasi in der Old Scool Scheune in Hamburg

Margerin - Ricky VII Artist: Frank Margerin (Penciller)

Margerin - Ricky VII

Artist: Frank Margerin (Penciller)

Первый в России комедийно-эротический турнир from RUDENKO ALEKSANDR

Первый в России комедийно-эротический турнир

RUDENKO ALEKSANDR1,919 plays

from RUDENKO ALEKSANDR Plus6 years ago

giovedì 29 settembre 2016

Elfo - Love stores Artist: Elfo (Penciller)

Elfo - Love stores

Artist: Elfo (Penciller)

A N E W _Erotic shortfilm from SBROKKED

A N E W _Erotic shortfilm

SBROKKED440K plays

from SBROKKED5 years ago

Title : ANEW_Erotic shortfilm
A SHORT FILM BY SBROKKED
sbrokked.com

REGIA e MONTAGGIO : Giovanni Barberis
SCENEGGIATURA e CONCEPT : Alessio Lentinello
FOTOGRAFIA : Alessio Lentinello / Giovanni Barberis
SCENE / COSTUMI : Tommaso Pispico
THANKS : Roger,Caterina e Noémi
music from Vladimir Sterzer vladimirsterzer.com
WORDS BY : Alberto Montani / PJ
italiano///
Se passi il tempo a mentirti.
Se credi di non averne bisogno e te lo urli cosi' forte in testa da farti sanguinare il naso.
E sai di sbagliare.
Se con la solita stupida, ignorante arroganza, continui a convincerti del contrario.
E sai di sbagliare.
Se remi in direzione ostinata e contraria ma invidi la corrente.
E sai di sbagliare.
Se sei certo di essere uguale agli altri.
E sai di sbagliare.
Se fingi che alcune cose non siano per te cosi' importanti, e sai di sbagliare.
Se le tue azioni sono una sudicia catena di conseguenze e mire, ma ogni fibra, ogni tensione del tuo corpo e' rivolta ad uno scopo diverso, edonista e perfetto.
Se ti manca il fiato a certi pensieri.
Se la tua vita potrebbe rimanere chiusa in una stanza ben arredata, o non arredata affatto.
Se la tua mente e' zeppa, trasuda il suo sudore.
Gocciola immagini della sua carne.
Se ogni cosa che vedi ti esplode in tutt'altra immagine.
Se ogni fotogramma che ti stai proiettando, e' il loop delle sue mani e delle sue labbra.
Girati e ama.
english///
If you're spending your time whispering yourself lies.
If you pretend not needing it, and you're shouting so loud on your mind, your nose is bleeding.
And you know you're wrong.
If your super-used ignorant arrogance, keeps on bringing you the opposite.
And you knou you're wrong.
If you paddle in the strong opposite going flow, but you pretend to wish the opposite again.
And you know you're wrong.
If you're sure to be the same of the other.
And you know you're wrong.
If you 're supposing something particular is not so meanfull for you.
And you know you're wrong.
If every act you're acting is just a line of targeting target, but every molecule, each tension of your body is pointed to something different, hedonist and perfect.
If you stay breathless on thinking it.
If all your life can stay closed in well designed room, or not designed at all.
If your mind is full, is swearing her swear.
Drops pictures of her flesh.
If everything you're watching explodes in something else: her skin.
If every image you're studying is her's lips and hands loop.
Turn around and Love.

Sieurac - La geste des chevaliers dragons Artist: Laurent Sieurac (Penciller)

Sieurac - La geste des chevaliers dragons

Artist: Laurent Sieurac (Penciller)

Sweet Dreams @ Bal Erotique IV // 14.August.2009 from Miguel

Sweet Dreams @ Bal Erotique IV // 14.August.2009

Miguel19.4K plays

from Miguel7 years ago

Le Bal Erotique is a large-scale event designed to celebrate human sexuality and freedom of expression through live shows, music, dancing, costumes, video and performance art. It is both a derivation and amalgamation of a masquerade, lingerie party, fetish ball, or burlesque event.

The theme of the 2009 edition of the Bal Erotique was Sweet Dreams - A journey through the mind of a sleeping girl's dreams as the rest of the guests partied at the most stimulating pajama party ever produced in Montreal.

David B - La lecture des ruines Artist: David B. (Penciller)

David B - La lecture des ruines

Artist: David B. (Penciller)

LOCUCIÓN POEMA ERÓTICO 1 from Edgar Santillan Tuesta

LOCUCIÓN POEMA ERÓTICO 1

Edgar Santillan Tuesta2,137 plays

from Edgar Santillan Tuesta3 years ago

Edgar Santillan en Cuanto a su Labor de Locutor Profesional, Ha Realizado muchas para Diversas Empresas y Organizaciones (Nacionales e Internacionales) así como también Innumerables Spots Radiales y Televisivos.

Pueden Escuchar y/o Ver Mas Trabajos Realizados en:
Soundcloud.com/e_santillant
Eastproducciones.blogspot.com
Youtube.com/user/esantillantuesta
Teléfonos de Contacto:
Fijo: 2926164
Cel.: 993229381 (RPC)
Cel.: 984874086 (Movistar)
Nxt.: (99) 824*4592
Skype: Esantillantuesta75
E_santillant@hotmail.com
Esantillantuesta@gmail.com

Burton - Coleman Wallace Artist: Fred Burton (Penciller)

Burton - Coleman Wallace

Artist: Fred Burton (Penciller)

Edel & und doch erotisch !

Edel & und doch erotisch !

Vanyda - L'année du dragon Artist: Vanyda (Penciller)

Vanyda - L'année du dragon

Artist: Vanyda (Penciller)

Эротический ребус, найди 7 отличий ;-)

Jusseaume - Tramp Artist: Patrick Jusseaume (Penciller)

Jusseaume - Tramp

Artist: Patrick Jusseaume (Penciller)

erotique by WOLVERINE76

Yoann - Nini Rezeroude Artist: Yoann (Penciller)

Yoann - Nini Rezeroude

Artist: Yoann (Penciller)

Erotico by spellrose

Bianco - Billy Brouillard Artist: Guillaume Bianco (Penciller)

Bianco - Billy Brouillard

Artist: Guillaume Bianco (Penciller)

mercoledì 28 settembre 2016

Robert Mapplethorpe (November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) Photographer

Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe (New York, 4 novembre 1946 – Boston, 9 marzo 1989) è stato un fotografo statunitense.
La maggior parte delle sue foto è realizzata in studio. I suoi temi più comuni furono ritratti di celebrità (tra cui Andy Warhol, Deborah Harry, Patti Smith e Amanda Lear), soggetti sadomaso (che ritraevano da vicino e senza filtri la sottocultura omosessuale di New York di cui Mapplethorpe stesso faceva parte), e studi di nudo spesso maschili e omoerotici, con le notevoli eccezioni della serie di nudo femminile della culturista Lisa Lyon.
Aveva una fitta rete di relazioni e non perdeva mai l'opportunità di promuovere il suo lavoro, per esempio invitando tutti i suoi conoscenti alle sue inaugurazioni in galleria.
Robert Mapplethorpe morì di complicazioni conseguenti all'AIDS nel 1989.

Biografia

Nasce nel Queens lunedì 4 novembre del 1946. La famiglia è cattolica osservante di origini irlandesi, Robert è il terzo di sei fratelli. Cresce a Floral Park, a Long Island. A soli 16 anni, nel 1963, è sorpreso mentre tenta di rubare da un negozio di Times Square un giornaletto pornografico gay che è troppo giovane per poter comperare. Parlando di quella esperienza spiegherà che ne era ossessionato: “Erano sigillati, il che li rendeva anche più sexy; perché non li potevi vedere” e ancora “Pensavo che se avessi potuto in qualche modo renderli arte, se avessi potuto mantenere quella sensazione, avrei creato qualcosa di unicamente mio”. Nel 1963 si iscrive al Pratt Institute di Brooklyn, frequentato già del padre ingegnere e fotoamatore. Si iscrive inizialmente al corso per pubblicitario. Si iscrive anche alla associazione paramilitare “National Honor Society of Pershing Rifles”, di cui aveva fatto parte anche il padre. L'associazione è legata al programma del Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), il programma di formazione per ufficiali delle forze armate attivo in numerosi istituti scolastici.
Sono gli anni in cui ostenta un machismo di maniera nel tentativo di rifiutare le sue inclinazioni omosessuali. Sono, quelli fra il 1963 e il 1969, anni particolari per gli Stati Uniti, il vietnam, le rivolte studentesche, i movimenti di liberazione delle donne e degli omosessuali stanno cambiando rapidamente la società. Il giovane Robert stringe amicizia con gli studenti del corso di arte e sospende gli studi. Inizia a consumare droghe: marihuana, LSD, speed-ball. Consumo che durerà per tutta la sua vita. Nella primavera del 1967 conosce Patti Smith, all'epoca una giovane ragazza spiantata appena arrivata a New York, con la ferrea intenzione di diventare una poetessa, e se ne innamora. Va a vivere con Patti prima in un appartamento in Hall Street, e successivamente al Chelsea Hotel. I due condivideranno la stanza dell'albergo per alcuni anni, prima come amanti, poi come semplici amici. Il rapporto intimo con Patti è uno dei più importanti per Robert, che la fotograferà spesso negli anni fra il 1970 e il 1973. È di Mapplethorpe la celebre copertina dell'album di Patti Smith Horses.
Riprende gli studi, più per attingere ad un prestito per studenti che per altre ragioni, e si iscrive ad arti grafiche ma nel 1970 abbandona il Pratt Institute definitivamente senza aver completato gli studi. Dal 1970, inizia ad utilizzare immagini fatte con una Polaroid. L'idea è quella di risparmiare tempo e denaro utilizzando immagini prodotte espressamente invece di dover cercare quella più idonea nelle riviste. I lavori in polaroid saranno dimenticati negli anni del grande successo per essere poi riscoperti dopo la sua morte. Esiste, forse, un punto nodale nella vita di Mapplethorpe che segna definitivamente il suo interesse per la fotografia, lo riporta Patti Smith nel suo libro “Just Kids” : “John (McKendry) aveva accesso alle camere blindate che custodivano l'intera collezione fotografica del museo (il MOMA), in gran parte mai esposta al pubblico. Avere il permesso di sollevare la velina dalle fotografie, di toccarle, e farsi un'idea della carta e della mano dell'artista fece un'enorme impressione su Robert; studiò tutto con la massima attenzione – la carta, lo sviluppo, la composizione e l'intensità dei neri. “È tutta questione di luce,” disse.
Nelle sue prime immagini polaroid, Mapplethorpe tende apparentemente a tralasciare le raffinatezze tecniche che lo renderanno famoso. Nel 1970 inizia la sua prima relazione omosessuale seria con David Crowland. Un modello del New Jersey che lo presenterà al suo primo benefattore, Il curatore della sezione fotografica del MOMA John McKendry. Ma la svolta è del 1972, quando conosce e diventa l'amante di Sam Wagstaff, che avrà una parte importante nel far conoscere il lavoro di Mapplethorpe. È grazie a lui infatti che Robert ottiene finalmente l'accesso agli ambienti della buona società e una certa stabilità economica. Nell'ottobre del 1972 Robert lascia l'appartamento della 23ª strada che aveva condiviso con Patti Smith per andare a vivere nel loft di Bond Street comperato con i soldi di Sam Wagstaff. Il rapporto com Wagstaff sarà duraturo e i due rimarranno insieme come amanti fino alla morte di Sam per AIDS.
Nel 1973 la prima mostra personale, “Polaroids”, presso la Light Gallery di New York. Sempre nel 1973 Robert acquista una Graflex 4x5 pollici con dorso Polaroid. È sempre Sam Wagstaff che regala a Robert la prima Hasselblad, nel 1975. La nuova macchina consente a Mapplethorpe il controllo della scena che stava cercando. È con l'Hasselbald che produce le centinaia di capolavori che lo renderanno famoso, prima il controverso “The X portfolio”, una serie di fotografie sadomaso poi gli innumerevoli ritratti di personaggi famosi, di Lisa Lyon e infine le nature morte. Non contento delle qualità formali ottenute con il medio formato e il sapiente uso della luce, Robert stampa le sue foto in grandi formati e con tecniche raffinate e costose stampa al platino e le inserisce in inserti che completano l'effetto di grande lusso. Mapplethorpe muore di AIDS il 9 marzo 1989, ancora una volta non ci sono parole migliori per ricordarlo di quelle che gli dedica la sua amica di sempre, Patti Smith: “Ci salutammo e lasciai la stanza. Qualcosa mi spinse a tornare indietro. Era scivolato in un sonno leggero. Restai a guardarlo. Così sereno, come un bambino vecchissimo.
Aprì gli occhi e mi sorrise. “Sei già tornata?” Poi si riaddormentò. L'ultima immagine di lui fu come la prima. Un giovane che dormiva ammantato di luce, che riapriva gli occhi col sorriso di chi aveva riconosciuto colei che mai gli era stata sconosciuta”. Tratto da Just Kids. Come accade ai grandi maestri della storia dell'arte la sua importanza continua a crescere negli anni successivi alla sua morte. La Fondazione Robert Mapplethorpe si occupa di gestire il suo patrimonio e di promuovere la fotografia e la lotta contro l'AIDS. La serie di esposizioni dei suoi lavori ne accresce la notorietà, e il suo modo di fare fotografia è quello che maggiormente influenza le generazioni di fotografi dagli anni novanta in poi. Di tutte le sue mostre deve essere assolutamente citata La perfezione nella Forma che si tenne a Firenze nel 2009, e dove i lavori di Mapplethorpe furono accostati ai capolavori di Michelangelo nella Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze.

L'opera

All'estero Mapplethorpe è noto soprattutto per la sua serie "Portfolio X" che fece scandalo per i contenuti erotici, compreso un autoritratto di spalle con una frusta inserita nell'ano. In queste immagini il fotografo spezzava deliberatamente il confine tra foto d'arte e foto commerciale destinata al mercato pornografico, adottando soggetti e temi tipici della "pornografia" nel contesto di immagini d'arte. Come soggetti della sua arte Mapplethorpe scelse ad esempio coppie autentiche della scena S&M gay di New York, ritraendole in pratiche erotiche "estreme" (fist-fucking, bondage ecc.). Ciò che non poteva essere neppure discusso, ora veniva rappresentato in immagini ed esposto nelle gallerie d'arte.
Oltre a questo, Mapplethorpe scelse per modelli celebrità del mercato della pornografia omosessuale, con una particolare predilezione per i neri, ritraendole in pose classiche e statuarie , o al contrario in pose sessualmente esplicite. Come ha scritto di lui Adriano Altamira:

« l'operazione che sta dietro al mondo figurativo e all'imagerie di Robert Mapplethorpe è piuttosto trasparente: trasporre soggetti omoerotici nel territorio eletto e squisitamente formale della classicità, usare la natura morta come un genere allusivo, e infine fare del nudo – indifferentemente maschile o femminile – una forma di studio botanico. »

(Adriano Altamira)

Questa rottura deliberata di confini codificati da decenni fu la principale ragione dell'ostilità nei confronti del suo lavoro. Fu però soprattutto per merito suo se in fotografia è caduta la barriera artificiale fra "arte" e "pornografia". Al punto che oggi l'imitazione mimetica dei codici e delle convenzioni della fotografia pornografica nella foto d'arte non sorprende più nessuno, tanto da essere ormai utilizzata perfino in campagne pubblicitarie di moda. In Italia Mapplethorpe è invece, prudentemente, ricordato soprattutto per le serie di primi piani di fiori. Queste foto estremamente raffinate e stilizzate ripetevano in senso inverso il lavoro già fatto col corpo umano, sottolineando il fatto spesso dimenticato che i fiori sono gli organi sessuali delle piante, e che anche nel loro caso Bello Artistico e Sesso non possono essere arbitrariamente separati e collocati in due sfere separate. Le foto di Mapplethorpe mostrano quindi in dettaglio, con grande creatività e spesso anche ironia, gli organi riproduttivi delle piante, richiamando i suoi più convenzionali lavori omo-sessuali.

La polemica

Verso la fine della sua vita l'aperta natura erotica ed omosessuale di molti dei suoi lavori fece scattare una controversia più generale sui finanziamenti pubblici per opere provocatorie (o, secondo altri, pornografiche). Molte organizzazioni conservatrici e religiose si opposero a finanziamenti pubblici dei suoi lavori e delle loro esposizioni, ed egli divenne una sorta di cause celebre per entrambe le parti nel dibattito sul futuro del National Endowment for the Arts (Sovvenzione nazionale per le arti). L'allestimento della sua mostra The Perfect Moment nel 1990 a Cincinnati (che comprendeva sette ritratti sadomaso) portò al processo contro il Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center e contro il suo direttore Dennis Barrie con l'imputazione di induzione all'oscenità. Barrie e il museo furono in seguito prosciolti, ma questo non riuscì a spegnere l'infuocato dibattito sull'opera di Mapplethorpe.

Self-portrait of Robert Mapplethorpe with trip cable in hand, 1974, Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe (/ˈmeɪpəlˌθɔːrp/; 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. The homoeroticism of this work fuelled a national debate over the public funding of controversial artwork.

Biography

Mapplethorpe was born in Floral Park, Queens, New York City, the son of Joan Dorothy (Maxey) and Harry Irving Mapplethorpe, an electrical engineer. He was of English, Irish, and German descent, and grew up as a Roman Catholic in Our Lady of the Snows Parish. He had five brothers and sisters. He studied for a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he majored in Graphic Arts, though he dropped out in 1969 before finishing his degree. Mapplethorpe lived with his close friend Patti Smith from 1967 to 1972, and she supported him by working in bookstores. They created art together; and, even after he realized he was homosexual, they maintained a close relationship.
From 1977 until 1980, Mapplethorpe was the lover of writer and Drummer magazine editor Jack Fritscher.

Mapplethorpe took his first photographs in the late 1960s or early 1970s using a Polaroid camera. In the mid-1970s, he acquired a Hasselblad medium-format camera and began taking photographs of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, including artists, composers, and socialites. During this time, he became friends with New Orleans artist George Dureau, whose work had a profound impact on Mapplethorpe, so much so that he restaged many of Dureau's early photographs. By the 1980s his subject matter focused on statuesque male and female nudes, delicate flower still lifes, and highly formal portraits of artists and celebrities. Mapplethorpe's first studio was at 24 Bond Street in Manhattan. In the 1980s, his mentor and lifetime companion art curator Sam Wagstaff bought a top-floor loft at 35 West 23rd Street for Robert, where he lived and used as his shooting space. He kept the Bond Street loft as his darkroom. In 1988, Mapplethorpe selected Patricia Morrisroe to write his biography, which was based on more than 300 interviews with celebrities, critics, lovers, and Mapplethorpe himself.

Death

Mapplethorpe died on the morning of March 9, 1989 at the age of 42 due to complications from HIV/AIDS, in a Boston, Massachusetts hospital. His corpse was cremated. His ashes are interred at St. John's Cemetery, Queens in New York, at his mother's grave-site, etched "Maxey".
Nearly a year before his death, the ailing Mapplethorpe helped found the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Inc. His vision for the Foundation was that it would be "the appropriate vehicle to protect his work, to advance his creative vision, and to promote the causes he cared about". Since his death, the Foundation has not only functioned as his official estate and helped promote his work throughout the world, but it has also raised and donated millions of dollars to fund medical research in the fight against AIDS and HIV infection. The Foundation also determines which galleries represent Mapplethorpe's art. The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation donated the Robert Mapplethorpe Archive to the Getty Research Institute. The archive spans from 1970 to 1989.

Art

Mapplethorpe worked primarily in a studio, and almost exclusively in black and white, with the exception of some of his later work and his final exhibit "New Colors". His body of work features a wide range of subjects, but his main focus and the greater part of his work is erotic imagery. He would refer to some of his own work as pornographic, with the aim of arousing the viewer, but which could also be regarded as high art. His erotic art explored a wide range of sexual subjects, depicting the BDSM subculture of New York in the 1970s, portrayals of black male nudes, and classical nudes of female bodybuilders. Mapplethorpe was a participant observer for much of his erotic photography, participating in the sexual acts which he was photographing and engaging his models sexually.
Other subjects included flowers, especially orchids and calla lilies, children, statues, and celebrities, including Andy Warhol, Louise Bourgeois, Deborah Harry, Richard Gere, Peter Gabriel, Grace Jones, Amanda Lear, Laurie Anderson, Joan Armatrading and Patti Smith. Smith was a longtime roommate of Mapplethorpe and a frequent subject in his photography, including a stark, iconic photograph that appears on the cover of Smith's first album, Horses. His work often made reference to religious or classical imagery, such as a portrait of Patti Smith from 1986 which recalls Albrecht Dürer's 1500 self-portrait.

Robert took areas of dark human consent and made them into art. He worked without apology, investing the homosexual with grandeur, masculinity, and enviable nobility. Without affectation, he created a presence that was wholly male without sacrificing feminine grace. He was not looking to make a political statement or an announcement of his evolving sexual persuasion. He was presenting something new, something not seen or explored as he saw and explored it. Robert sought to elevate aspects of male experience, to imbue homosexuality with mysticism. As Cocteau said of a Genet poem, "His obscenity is never obscene."

— Patti Smith, Just Kids

Controversy

The Perfect Moment (1989 solo exhibit tour)

In the summer of 1989, Mapplethorpe's traveling solo exhibit brought national attention to the issues of public funding for the arts, as well as questions of censorship and the obscene. The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., had agreed to be one of the host museums for the tour. Mapplethorpe decided to show his latest series that he explored shortly before his death. Titled Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment, the show included photographs from his X Portfolio, which featured images of urophagia, BDSM and a self-portrait with a bullwhip inserted in his anus. The show was curated by Janet Kardon of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). The hierarchy of the Corcoran and several members of the U.S. Congress were upset when the works were revealed to them, due the homoerotic and sadomasochistic themes of some of the work. Though much of his work throughout his career had been regularly displayed in publicly funded exhibitions, conservative and religious organizations, such as the American Family Association, seized on this exhibition to vocally oppose government support for what they called "nothing more than the sensational presentation of potentially obscene material."
In June 1989, pop artist Lowell Blair Nesbitt became involved in the censorship issue. Nesbitt, a long-time friend of Mapplethorpe, revealed that he had a $1.5-million bequest to the museum in his will, but publicly promised that if the museum refused to host the exhibition, he would revoke the bequest. The Corcoran refused and Nesbitt bequeathed the money to the Phillips Collection instead. After the Corcoran refused the Mapplethorpe exhibition, the underwriters of the exhibition went to the nonprofit Washington Project for the Arts, which showed all the images in its space from July 21 to August 13, 1989, to large crowds. In 1990, the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, and Dennis Barrie, were charged with obscenity. They were found not guilty by a jury.
According to the ICA, "The Corcoran's decision sparked a controversial national debate: Should tax dollars support the arts? Who decides what is "obscene" or "offensive" in public exhibitions? And if art can be considered a form of free speech, is it a violation of the First Amendment to revoke federal funding on grounds of obscenity? To this day, these questions remain very much at issue." Mapplethorpe became something of a cause célèbre for both sides of the American culture war. However, prices for many of the Mapplethorpe photographs doubled and even tripled as a consequence of all the attention. The artist's notoriety supposedly also helped the posthumous sale at Christie's auction house of Mapplethorpe's own collection of furniture, pottery, silver and works by other artists, which brought about $8 million.

UCE controversy

In 1998, the University of Central England was involved in a controversy when a book by Mapplethorpe was confiscated. A final-year undergraduate student was writing a paper on the work of Robert Mapplethorpe and intended to illustrate the paper with a few photographs from Mapplethorpe, a book of the photographer's work. She took the photographs to the local chemist to be developed and the chemist informed West Midlands Police because of the unusual nature of the images. The police confiscated the library book from the student and informed the university that the book would have to be destroyed. If the university agreed to the destruction, no further action would be taken.
The university Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Peter Knight, supported by the Senate, took the view that the book was a legitimate book for the university library to hold and that the action of the police was a serious infringement of academic freedom. The Vice-Chancellor was interviewed by the police, under caution, with a view to prosecution under the terms of the Obscene Publications Acts.
After the interview with the Vice-Chancellor, a file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service for a determination by the Director of Public Prosecutions whether to proceed with a trial. After a delay of about six months, the affair came to an end when Dr. Knight was informed by the DPP that no action would be taken.

The Black Book

The 1986 solo exhibition "Black Males" and the subsequent book "The Black Book" sparked controversy for their depiction of black men. The images, erotic depictions of black men, were widely criticized for being exploitative. The work was largely phallocentric and sculptural, focusing on segments of the subject's bodies. His purported intention with these photographs and the use of black men as models was the pursuit of the Platonic ideal. Mapplethorpe's initial interest in the black male form was inspired by films like Mandingo and the interrogation scene in Cruising, in which an unknown black character enters the interrogation room and slaps the protagonist across the face.
Criticism was the subject of a work by American conceptual artist Glenn Ligon, Notes on the Margins of the Black Book (1991–1993). Ligon juxtaposes Mapplethorpe's 91 images of black men in the 1988 publication Black Book with critical texts and personal reactions about the work to complicate the racial undertones of the imagery.
American poet and activist Essex Hemphill also expressed criticism in his anthology Brother to Brother (1991). Although he believed that Mappplethorpe's work reflected exceptional talent, Hemphill also believed that it displayed a lack of concern for black individuals in the gay community, "except as sexual subjects".

Posthumously

In 1992, author Paul Russell dedicated his novel Boys of Life to Mapplethorpe, as well as to Karl Keller and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
When Mapplethorpe: A Biography by Patricia Morrisroe was published by Random House in 1995, the Washington Post Book World described it as "Mesmerizing... Morrisroe has succeeded in re-creating the photographer's world of light and dark." Art critic Arthur C. Danto, writing in The Nation, praised it as "utterly admirable... The clarity and honesty of Morrisroe's portrait are worthy of its subject."
In 1996, Patti Smith wrote a book The Coral Sea dedicated to Mapplethorpe.
Philips released a photo disc for their CD-i video game system in the late 1990s called The Flowers of Robert Mapplethorpe.
In September 1999, Arena Editions published Pictures, a monograph that reintroduced Mapplethorpe's sex pictures. In 2000, Pictures was seized by two South Australian plain-clothes detectives from an Adelaide bookshop in the belief that the book breached indecency and obscenity laws. Police sent the book to the Canberra-based Office of Film and Literature Classification after the state Attorney-General's Department deftly decided not to get involved in the mounting publicity storm. Eventually, the OFLC board agreed unanimously that the book, imported from the United States, should remain freely available and unrestricted.
In May 2007, American writer, director, and producer James Crump directed the documentary film Black White + Gray, which premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. It explores the influence Mapplethorpe, curator Sam Wagstaff, and musician/poet Patti Smith had on the 1970s art scene in New York City.
In September 2007, Prestel published Mapplethorpe: Polaroids, a collection of 183 of approximately 1,500 existing Mapplethorpe polaroids. This book accompanies an exhibition by the Whitney Museum of American Art in May 2008.
In 2008, Robert Mapplethorpe was named by Equality Forum as one of their 31 Icons of the 2015 LGBT History Month.
Patti Smith's 2010 memoir Just Kids focuses on her relationship with Mapplethorpe. The book won the 2010 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
In January, 2016, filmmaker Ondi Timoner announced that she was directing a feature about Mapplethorpe, with Matt Smith in the lead role.
The American documentary film, Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures, was released in 2016. It was directed and executive produced by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, and produced by Katharina Otto-Bernstein.

Art market

The Estate of Robert Mapplethorpe is represented by Alison Jacques Gallery in London (since 1999), Sean Kelly Gallery in New York (since 2004), and Moran Bondaroff in Los Angeles (since 2013). The Estate is also represented by eight other galleries in Europe. Since 2005, in partnership with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac has been inviting Hedi Slimane, Robert Wilson, Sofia Coppola and Isabelle Huppert to act as guest curators and to select a series of the foundation's images for several gallery shows.
In 2006, a 1987 Mapplethorpe print of Andy Warhol (a platinum print on linen with four silk panels) was auctioned for around $US 643,000, making it the most expensive Mapplethorpe photograph ever sold.

Selected works

Mapplethorpe, Robert. Robert Mapplethorpe: 1970-1983. London: Institute of Contemporary Arts, 1983. ISBN 0-905263-31-6
Mapplethorpe, Robert, and Bruce Chatwin. Lady, Lisa Lyon. New York: Viking Press, 1983. ISBN 0-670-43012-9
Mapplethorpe, Robert. Certain people: a book of portraits. Pasadena, CA: Twelvetrees Press, 1985. ISBN 0-942642-14-7
Mapplethorpe, Robert, and Ntozake Shange. Black book. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1986. ISBN 0-312-08302-5
Marshall, Richard, and Robert Mapplethorpe. 50 New York artists: a critical selection of painters and sculptors working in New York. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1986. ISBN 0-87701-403-5
Mapplethorpe, Robert. Robert Mapplethorpe. Tokyo: Parco, 1987. ISBN 4-89194-149-9
Mapplethorpe, Robert. Mapplethorpe portraits. London: National Portrait Gallery, 1988. ISBN 0-904017-91-5
Mapplethorpe, Robert, and Joan Didion. Some women. Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1989. ISBN 0-8212-1716-X
Kardon, Janet, Robert Mapplethorpe, David Joselit, and Kay Larson. Robert Mapplethorpe: the perfect moment. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, 1989. ISBN 0-88454-046-4
Mapplethorpe, Robert. Flowers. Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1990. ISBN 0-8212-1781-X
Mapplethorpe, Robert, and Arthur Coleman Danto. Mapplethorpe. New York: Random House, 1992. ISBN 0-679-40804-5
Mapplethorpe, Robert, and Edmund White. Altars. New York: Random House, 1995. ISBN 0-679-42721-X
Mapplethorpe, Robert, John Ashbery, Mark Holborn, and Dimitri Levas. Pistils. New York: Random House, 1996. ISBN 0-679-40805-3
Rimbaud, Arthur, Paul Schmidt, and Robert Mapplethorpe. A season in hell. Boston: Little, Brown, 1997. ISBN 0-8212-2458-1
Mapplethorpe, Robert, and Dimitri Levas. Pictures. Arena Editions, 1999. ISBN 1-892041-16-2
Mapplethorpe, Robert, and Richard Marshall. Autoportrait. Santa Fe, NM: Arena Editions in association with Cheim and Reid, 2001. ISBN 1-892041-41-3
Mapplethorpe, Robert, Germano Celant, Arkadii Ippolitov, Karole P B Vail, and Jennifer Blessing. Robert Mapplethorpe and the classical tradition: photographs and Mannerist prints. Berlin: Deutsche Guggenheim, 2004. ISBN 0-89207-313-6
Wolf, Sylvia, and Robert Mapplethorpe. Polaroids: Mapplethorpe. Munich and New York: Prestel, 2007. ISBN 978-3-7913-3835-4

Selected exhibitions

1973: "Polaroids" Light Gallery, New York
1977: "Portraits" Holly Solomon Gallery, New York
1979: "Robert Mapplethorpe: 1970-1975" Robert Samuel Gallery, New York
1980: "Black Males" Jurka Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1983: "Lady, Lisa Lyons" Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
1988:
- Whitney Museum of Art, New York
- "New Color Work" Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY
- "Robert Mapplethorpe, the Perfect Moment" Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
1989: "Robert Mapplethorpe, the Perfect Moment" Washington Project for the Arts, Washington D.C.
1991: "Robert Mapplethorpe, Early Works" Robert Miller Gallery, New York
1994: "The Robert Mapplethorpe Gallery" Guggenheim Museum, New York
1996 "Children" Robert Miller Gallery, New York

Self Portrait, 1972

Untitled, c. 1972

Self Portrait, 1972

Polaroid

Untitled, 1973

Dancer, 1974

Patti Smith, 1976

Holly Solomon, 1976

Pictures/Self Portrait, 1977

Robert Mapplethorpe, Jim, Sausilito. X Portfolio, 1977. Gelatin Silver Print. (c) The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation

Pictures/Self Portrait, 1977

Dennis, 1978

Deborah Harry, 1978

Alan Lynes 1979 by Robert Mapplethorpe

William Burroughs, 1979

Dan S., 1980

Lisa Lyon, 1980

Self Portrait, 1980

Lisa Lyon, 1980

Charles Bowman / Torso, 1980

Tit Profile, 1980

Self Portrait, 1980

Robert Mapplethorpe
"Nikki Starnes", 1980
gelatin silver print, 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.), framed, edition of
15, # 3, signed, dated and numbered verso
© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by Permission.