Dimensions: support: 341 x 342 mm
Copyright: © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Curator: Robert Mapplethorpe’s photograph, titled "Nick," it's smallish, about a square foot, and lives at the Tate. What strikes you first about it? Editor: That skull tattoo blazing on his forehead. It's not just punk; it’s practically announcing: "I am a symbol!" Curator: Right? Mapplethorpe’s work often dances with symbolism. The leather jacket, the watch, the tattoos – they're almost hieroglyphs. Editor: There's a tension between vulnerability and defiance. The shadow behind him seems to amplify the vulnerability, while the studded belt screams the opposite. Curator: He’s crafted an image that's both deeply personal and deliberately constructed. It's an intense dialogue between the self and the gaze. Editor: Yeah, I walk away wondering what stories those tattoos hold. It's a potent, layered portrait. Curator: Absolutely. It's a whisper of something much larger.
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This black and white photograph is a portrait of Nick Bienes, who Robert Mapplethorpe met in 1977. Bienes sits in three-quarter profile with his head turned to face the camera. He is topless but holds his studded leather jacket, which is slung over his left shoulder, with clasped hands. The top of his leather trousers and a metallic belt can be seen at the bottom edge of the image. Bienes wears a strong yet sullen expression and boasts a dark, trimmed beard and two visible tattoos: a flaming skull on his forehead and a profile head and neck of a man wearing a leather cap on his left bicep. He casts a shadow on the white wall behind him that emphasises his square jaw.
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