Created mainly during the late 1970s and 1980s, the photographic images of Robert Mapplethorpe were primarily erotic images that celebrated the human physique, both male and female, in all its naked, and too many, shocking, glory. During the 1980s, Mapplethorpe's works created enormous controversy for their shocking and graphic eroticism, particularly among the Religious Right and the conservative Reagan Administration. A homosexual who eventually succumbed to AIDS, Mapplethorpe's works were always driven by his intensely personal erotic fascinations but they increasingly served as political and social commentary toward the end of his life. This analysis will use three of Mapplethorpe's works to show his tendency toward eroticism combined with social commentary as a means of shocking through his images.
The works of Robert Mapplethorpe during an era when AIDS was ravaging the homosexual population, frightening, and considered a "gay" disease outraged and shocked many. Many of his works feature male nudes, including naked amply endowed black males, acts of bondage and sadomasochism, including Coprophagia, the eating of feces (Robert, 2008, p. 1). In Mapplethorpe's mind, individuals like homosexuals, women, or blacks figuratively ate "crap" from the government during this era. His works often attempted to convey this in their form and content. His numerous works of black nude males were meant to showcase a marginalized group in society who he not only gave expression to, or a voice, but also photographed in their most naked and powerfully muscular expression as shown in the photo of Christopher Holy:
(Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, 2007)
Mapplethorpe also created numerous images that were not explicitly erotic or of sexual images. He did everything from portraits of celebrities like his first girlfriend, Patti Smith, to fellow eccentric artists like Andy War
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