Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff + Robert Mapplethorpe
Type
Audio/Visual
Authors
Category
Art, Documentary Film
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Publication Year
2007
Publisher
Duration
78 min.
Subject
Wagstaff, Samuel J., -- Jr., -- 1921-1987. Mapplethorpe, RoPhotographers -- United States -- Biography. Photography -- Collectors and collecting -- United States -- Biography. Wagstaff, Samuel J., -- Jr., -- 1921-1987 Photography
Tags
Abstract
"When he died in 1987, Sam Wagstaff left behind a photography collection worth $5 million at the Getty Museum -- and very few solid facts about his life. A revolutionary figure in the 1970s New York art scene, Wagstaff organized the first exhibition of Minimalist art and championed avant-garde talents like Andy Warhol. During the heady years of the 1970s and 1980s, the New York City art scene was abuzz with a new spirit, and Mapplethorpe would be at the center of it. Wagstaff pulled him from his suburban Queens existence, gave him a camera and brought him into this art world that seemed to be waiting for him, creating the man whose infamous images instilled emotions ranging from awe to anger. In turn, Mapplethorpe brought the formerly starched-shirt preppie to the world of drugs and gay S-and-M sex, well-documented in his still-startling photographs. Twenty five years separated the lovers, but their relationship was symbiotic to its core, and the two remained together forever." -- container.
Description
1 videodisc (DVD) (78 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Number of Copies
1
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REVIEWS (1) -
Administrator
This is an interesting film that focuses on Sam Wagstaff as an important figure in the recognition of photography as fine art and the development of curatorial practice. It also discusses the role of collectors in the art world. This film does not spend much time looking at Mapplethorpe's practice.
Warning: Apart from interviews with Patti Smith, the film has a strong bias against Mapplethorpe, who is presented more as a gold digger than an important part of Sam Wagstaff's growth in the arts. Some of this may be class bias or bias against his sexuality.
A better documentary is "Look at Pictures" by HBO. It is available through Films on Demand and was created in conjunction with the sister Mapplethorpe exhibits at LACMA and the Getty Center in 2016.
Warning: Apart from interviews with Patti Smith, the film has a strong bias against Mapplethorpe, who is presented more as a gold digger than an important part of Sam Wagstaff's growth in the arts. Some of this may be class bias or bias against his sexuality.
A better documentary is "Look at Pictures" by HBO. It is available through Films on Demand and was created in conjunction with the sister Mapplethorpe exhibits at LACMA and the Getty Center in 2016.
8 years ago