Become a Rumpus Member
Join NOW!As an intern at the Corcoran, I suddenly understood the power of art. When a 1989 Washington DC Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit was cancelled, young art major Jack Ludden found himself beginning his career amidst one of the biggest culture wars of the late 20th century.
...moreThe Mapplethorpe Foundation is backing a biopic on the photographer’s life, and Pitchfork reports that film’s stars have been cast: Doctor Who’s Matt Smith will be playing Robert Mapplethorpe, and Zosia Mamet of Girls will be playing Patti Smith. Like Smith’s Just Kids, the film will explore the relationship between the two artists and the […]
...moreThe last painting Frida painted in her life was watermelons, and at the end of his life, Diego also painted watermelons. I always thought that was beautiful: this green fruit that opens up, the pulp, the flesh, the blood, these black seeds. Over at the Smithsonian, Patti Smith reads a letter from Frida Kahlo to […]
...moreIt might be ill-advised to reduce an artist’s life and work to a single observation, the magic key that unlocks everything, but in the case of Robert Mapplethorpe there is a pronounced duality—in the themes and subjects depicted in his “icy”, graphically stylized black-and-white photographs; in the dark-angel personae he cultivated; and in the controversies all […]
...more
What I want/need/love most are the tools that allow me to document what I see and experience, at home and in my travels, now and in the future.
...moreHave you heard the good news? Singer-songwriter Patti Smith’s memoir, Just Kids, about her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, is going to be made into a mini-series. The Guardian reported that Smith will co-write the show with John Logan (who created Penny Dreadful for Showtime). “The medium of a television limited series offers narrative freedom and […]
...morePatti Smith’s memoir of her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe chronicles two “mutinous spirits” in the chaos of 1970s New York.
...more