Lawrence Weiner Possibly 1982 - 1991

Editor: Here we have Robert Mapplethorpe's photograph of Lawrence Weiner. It is a stark portrait, but I sense some vulnerability in the gesture. How does this image speak to you? Curator: Mapplethorpe's work is powerful because it engages with the politics of representation, particularly around masculinity. This portrait, given Mapplethorpe's queer gaze, and Weiner's own artistic practices, challenges traditional notions of artistic authority. How might we understand Weiner’s relaxed pose within that context? Editor: I guess it is a bit subversive, portraying the artist outside of the stereotype of the tortured genius. Curator: Exactly. It decenters the artist as an all-knowing figure, suggesting a more collaborative, perhaps even vulnerable, exchange. I never thought of it that way before.