Robert Mapplethorpe

a unique object, collage with spray-painted found magazine illustration and painted paper potato bag with mesh window, framed, a Paul Morris Gallery, New York, label on the reverse, circa 1971

Acquired from the photographer, circa 1971

This unique collage object is in generally excellent condition. The paper potato bag is painted black except for a one-1/2-inch strip at the upper edge which is spray-painted silver. Under the mesh opening is a clipped magazine illustration which is spray-painted red. The paper bag is slightly worn and there are several creases, some minor rips, and losses overall. There are 3 tack-holes near the upper edge of the bag. Please note that this work was not examined out of its frame.
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Much of Mapplethorpe’s work from the late 1960s and early 1970s consists of assemblages of appropriated photomechanical imagery.  Using found imagery from pornographic magazines that he manipulated and altered, Mapplethorpe explored religion, eroticism, homosexuality, and the quest for classic beauty, themes that he would continue to examine throughout his career in photography.