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Tampa Orchid $25,000 |
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Untitled #1 $6,500 |
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Untitled #2 $6,500 |
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Untitled #3 $6,500 |
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Untitled #4 $6,500 |
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Untitled #5 $6,500 |
Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe came to collaborate at Graphicstudio intrigued by the possibilities of photogravure, an almost forgotten 19th century photographic process that the studio had begun to research and revitalize in the 1980s. Photogravure's range of tones and shadow detail was ideal for the interpretation of Mapplethorpe's exquisite figure study and still-life photography, and he was open to experimentation with color and texture. In their collaboration, Mapplethorpe and Graphicstudio's Research Director Deli Sacilotto gave an entirely new look to the beautiful process, which had been ignored by photographers for over six decades.
“The space in which Mapplethorpe’s Orchid exists is at once airless and yet heavy with atmosphere, tranquil and yet unsettling. When compared with the style of the other two flower images produced as photogravures at Graphicstudio, the iconic quality of Orchid is underscored. The flower looms large, willfully projecting itself into the picture plane. Mapplethorpe maximizes the natural symmetry of the plant, yet the slight bend in the stem, disrupting that symmetry and suggesting both delicacy and dignity, is the mainstay of the composition. The soft, grainy texture created by the aquatint ground evokes the velvety, tactile, palpable, fleshlike quality of the petals.”In
Tampa Orchid, two copper plates were used to print the two orchid images, derived from the same photographic image but printed side by side in tones of black and blue. The black flower remains anchored on its dense nonreflective photogravure background, while the blue flower floats on a screenprinting of glittery silver.
Untitled #1 through Untitled #5 are figure studies which continue experimentation in photogravure. For the first time, a multi-plate, three-color photogravure was achieved.
(Fine, Ruth E., Corlett, Mary Lee, Graphicstudio Contemporary Art from the Collaborative Workshop at the University of South Florida, National Gallery of Art, 1991.)
Links to other sites related to the artist:
Mapplethorpe Foundation
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The electronic images available on this site are subject to copyright and may be covered by other restrictions as well. The images are made available to the general public as a representation of work produced at USF Graphicstudio. Copy or redistribution in any manner for commercial use is not permitted. Anyone wishing to use any of these images for commercial use, publication, or for any purpose other than personal fair use must first request and receive prior written permission from the University of South Florida Institute for Research in Art. Please contact Director of Marketing and Sales Kristin Soderqvist at 813.974.5871 for more information.
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