Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe
directed by James Crump (USA, 2007, 77')
Friday 6th and Saturday 7th November
MAMbo, via Don Minzoni 14 |
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This noteworthy documentary tells the story of art collector and museum curator Sam Wagstaff, one of the most important characters in the art world in the last 30 years. The film tells of the symbiotic relationship between Wagstaff and the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in New York.
When they met, Mapplethorpe was 26, 25 years younger than Wagstaff, and was leaving the apartment that he shared with Patti Smith. As well as discovering Mapplethorpe and being his promoter, he was also his life companion. Mapplethorpe introduced Wagstaff to the diversified New York underworld of the 70s and 80s, in the years of explosion of club life, punk rock and the gay and SM worlds.
Wagstaff’s story is one of personal transformation, from a conservative, austere ex-Yale student to regular participant of New York’s most revolutionary and avant-garde lifestyle. Mapplethorpe and Wagstaff helped each other discover the deepest and most hidden sides of their personalities as Mapplethorpe's provocative talent was revealed, and his photography was branded as obscene, Wagstaff created the most extraordinary 19th and 20th century collection of photography.
Wagstaff died of Aids in 1987, Mapplethorpe two years later in 1989. Their deaths signified the end of a seminal epoch of art and culture. Go to official web site
- Time: 08.30 p.m.
- Ticket: ingresso gratuito
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