? Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission.
Patrice
1977
- Artist Rooms
In this work Mapplethorpe removed the man?s torso, head and lower legs from the frame. Instead he focused the composition on the man?s groin (he wears a studded belted jock-strap), his muscular naked right thigh, leather-jacketed lower right arm and right hand, clenched in a fist. It is a highly structured composition, typical of the way in which Mapplethorpe used the medium of photography to create works with a three-dimensional quality. The strong lighting and stark shadows, together with the strength of the man?s stance and a sense of the unseen parts of the subject, result in a powerful and challenging image. By titling the work with the name of his sitter, `Patrice?, Mapplethorpe gave his subject an identity and individuality, even while showing him as faceless and anonymous.
