Patti Smith

October 21, 2011 – February 19, 2012

In conjunction with the exhibition Patti Smith: Camera Solo, visitors explored the poetry, music, art and life of cultural icon Patti Smith. The exhibition included related images by and about Smith’s friend and collaborator, the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe as a reflection of their singular relationship. The exhibition asked visitors to write a poem about someone who had inspired them.

Andy Warhol, American, 1928-1987, Robert Mapplethorpe, 1983, Screenprint on museum board, Contemporary Art Purchase Fund, 1998.16.1

(L-R):L:Robert Mapplethorpe, American, 1946-1989, Lisa Lyon, 1982, Gelatin silver print, Gift of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, 1991.48

R:Robert Mapplethorpe, American, 1946-1989, Ken and Tyler, 1982, Platinum print, Gift of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, 1991.49

Much has been said about Robert, and more will be added. Young men will adopt his gait. Young girls will wear white dresses and mourn his curls. He will be condemned and adored. His excesses damned or romanticized. In the end, truth will be found in his work, the corporeal body of the artists. It will not fall away. Man cannot judge it. For art sings of God, and ultimately belongs to him.
– Patti Smith, from her memoir Just Kids, 2010

Patti Smith

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