Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now

It's been thirty years since Robert Mapplethorpe passed away. He was one of America's finest LGBT+ artists. Immortalised in Patti Smith's bestselling book, Just Kinds, his legacy continues to fascinate. One of the many queer artists lost to the HIV epidemic, his work explored the more extreme aspects of the LGBT+ imagination. He was obsessed with erotica and BDSM subculture.

Oscar Wilde allegedly said, "Everything in the world is about sex, except sex." Mapplethorpe's work confirms that statement. His art is far more than highly sexualised imagery. It demonstrates how sex intertwines with all aspects of our lives, culture and politics.