Dimensions: support: 570 x 475 mm
Copyright: © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have Robert Mapplethorpe's portrait of Andy Warhol. It's striking how Mapplethorpe captured Warhol's persona. What do you see in this piece, considering Mapplethorpe's methods and materials? Curator: The leather jacket speaks volumes. It's a mass-produced item, yet here it signifies Warhol's engagement with street style, but filtered through Mapplethorpe's artistry. How does this interplay with ideas of consumption and artistic identity? Editor: It’s interesting to think of the jacket as a readymade, almost like Duchamp! Curator: Exactly. Mapplethorpe's photographic process, then, becomes a form of manufacturing an image, commodifying Warhol's persona itself. Editor: That makes me think differently about portraiture. Thank you! Curator: My pleasure. Considering the materials helps us to understand the cultural forces at play.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mapplethorpe-andy-warhol-ar00220
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In this black and white portrait photograph the artist Andy Warhol stands at the centre of the picture against a plain black background, framed from his head to his hands, which are loosely joined in a ‘V’ shape and somewhat reminiscent of a handcuffed position. He wears a silver wig, which is ruffled and in slight disarray, and a black leather jacket and scarf which visually blend in with the black background. The lighting emphasises the shiny quality of the leather jacket and highlights Warhol’s wig and pale complexion. The subject stands straight with his head angled slightly to the right while his eyes look directly at the camera with a blank expression.
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