Senator Jesse Helms denounced the work of Robert Mapplethorpe from the floor of the Senate following the photographer’s death from AIDS in 1989, saying, “Any Senator who thinks that I’m attacking aesthetic art, if they have any doubt, look at the pictures.”
That’s precisely what Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato do in their new documentary Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures. From all accounts, the pair offer a clear-eyed inquiry into the nature of their subject, treating Mapplethorpe and his work with the respect that they deserve without being afraid to admit the obscenity inherent in much of that work.
The fact of a Mapplethorpe documentary alone was enough to convince us that this would be one of the Most Anticipated Films of 2016, and now that we’ve seen the first trailer, we can hardly wait for more. You can take a look for yourself below.
Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures will be released in April.
(via /Film)
