Robert Mapplethorpe

Lawrence Weiner

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About this artwork

Lawrence Weiner was one of the founders of conceptual art, a movement that placed the emphasis on the conceptual and linguistic basis and formulation of a work of art, rather than on its execution. Mapplethorpe portrays him as a rugged intellectual with more than a streak of flamboyance - a silk scarf draped around his neck and tattooed star on his wrist - and love of his own rhetoric (note the open mouth, as if he had been caught in mid-flow). The diagonal lines of his arms create a parallelogram in the centre of the composition that acts as a base for the bearded head above.

Updated December 2021

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  • artist:
  • title:
    Lawrence Weiner
  • date created:
    1982; printed 1991
  • materials:
    Gelatin silver print on paper
  • measurements:
    37.50 x 37.50 cm (framed: 64.40 x 62.00 x 3.80 cm)
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund, 2008
  • accession number:
    AR00218
  • gallery:
  • depicted:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe