From: Thor Bols (thorbols@hotmail.com)
Date: 11/03/00-01:27:13 PM Z
This really intrigues me: "A well known art critic once told me that
Mapplethorpe was the most important photographer of the second half of the
20th century because he was the only photographer that made the critic want
to know the people in the photographs."
Bill, would you mind sharing the identity of this well-known critic? I'd be
really interested in knowing who has such an opinion of Mapplethorpe. I
always thought that Mapplethorpes purposely *removed* the personality of his
subjects in order to depict them as sort of *iconic*. Certainly, in many of
his portraits of famous individuals, the subjects seem to become objects.
I've always thought that this was one of his strengths.
>From: BKPhoto@aol.com
>Reply-To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
>To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
>Subject: Re: photo history lecture
>Date: Fri, 03 Nov 2000 13:38:36 -0500 (EST)
>
>Mapplethorpe is important as a cultural phenomenon, but much less so as a
>photographer. He well illustrates the transition of fine art to popular
>culture. He was the artist entertainer, as so many post modernist are, and
>in
>that regard he excelled.
>
>Any substantive evaluation of Mapplethorpe as a photographer would have to
>be
>considered on more than the issues he is identified with. A well known art
>critic once told me that Mapplethorpe was the most important photographer
>of
>the second half of the 20th century because he was the only photographer
>that
>made the critic want to know the people in the photographs. This so
>accurately points to the role of desire, how we use images to complete our
>fantasy.
>
>Interesting though it may be, it tends to promote a shallow evaluation that
>emphasizes self gratification above anything else (an almost perfect
>definition of entertainment in the second half of the 20th century). In
>this
>sense, Mapplethorpe was an important artist even though he was a mediocre
>photographer.
>
>Bill Kennedy
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