Twenty-five years ago, selected photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe's solo exhibit "The Perfect Moment" went on trial.
The pictures, culled from a larger body of work of what is known as his X portfolio, depicted black-and-white scenes of sadomasochism, nudity and urophagia and sparked a fire of controversy surrounding the issues of public funding for the arts, censorship and obscenity.
But that was just part of the story, according to filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, whose "Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures," an HBO Documentary, is one of the Sundance Film Festival documentary premieres.
"In regards to this film, it's been 25 years since his work has been on trial, and we have this idea that maybe everyone's understanding of who Robert Mapplethorpe was isn't really the truth or reality," Bailey said. "I mean, during the trial, something like half a dozen images were put on trial, but the exhibition they were pulled from had 175 images. We were interested in the rest of his stuff."
Read the full story at www.parkrecord.com/scene/ci_29405340/filmmakers-wanted-reveal-photographer-mapplethorpe .
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'Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures'
Friday, Jan. 22 • 2:30 p.m., the MARC Theatre, Park City
Saturday, Jan. 23 • 9 a.m., Library Center Theatre, Park City
Saturday, Jan. 23 • 6 p.m., Sundance Mountain Resort Screening Room
Saturday, Jan. 30 • 9 p.m., Redstone Cinema 7, Park City
Sunday, Jan. 31 • 3:45 p.m., Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City
For more information • www.sundance.org
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