Now in Athens, Greece, where I found a new Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition.
His
cover photograph for "Marquee Moon" was obviously considered so important
that
it has been included in the attached chronology (not the cover itself, but
it's the same case with any other LP sleeve he was involved with). That
chronology may, of course, be copied from some other exhibition -- but
perhaps
not, since the people at the Onassis Cultural Centre have curated their
own
Mapplethorpe retrospective, emphasising the similarities between the
American
photographer's nude shots and ancient Greek sculpture art -- therefore,
many
photos of finely chiseled muscular black men (but none of his explicit
homoerotic pics). Must say that I've never thought of said similarities
before, but they do make sense if you see the photos and spend time here
where
one is remembered about the Greek history all the time. Two old
documentaries
are also shown, as well as two of his experimental shorts which can be
said to
correspond within the general idea here -- one with powerwoman Lisa Lyon,
filmed posing in palace-like surroundings, and "Still moving" with Patti
Smith
doing some poetry thing in a room where she's dressed in a pretty
revealing
white toga. About the latter can be said that the Greeks must not only try
to
survive being in the epicentre of the eurozone-crisis, now they also have
to
endure the sight of Patti Smith's *very* hairy legs.
The (by Lloyd, if memory serves) reported xerox-ed distortion of
Mapplethorpe's "Marquee Moon" cover aside -- didn't Mapplethorpe gave all
the
boys but especially Tom Verlaine kind of a sculptural image on that image?
The
face bones, the veins. In Greek style? Isn't Greek sex slang for sodomy in
the
English language? Did Mapplethorpe shot the pic from a possibly
"homoerotic"
angle? As with so many other photos? If so, is there then a connection
with
the recently unearthed claims of Verlaine's tea-bagging activities?
Remember
that both Verlaine and Patti Smith as well as Mapplethorpe and Smith were
partners once -- we now the reason for the Mapplethorpe-Smith breakup --
but
not for the other one. Is this Jutta Koether thing just a cover up? Is
this
too farfetched? Perhaps, perhaps not.
For those who're insterested in reading about the exhibition, here's the
centre's webpage about it: http://www.sgt.gr/en/programme/event/273
Leif J, Athens
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