The German photographer Juergen Teller is to curate an exhibition of works by Robert Mapplethorpe in London in November, to coincide with what would have been the US artist’s 70th birthday.
The exhibition at Alison Jacques gallery will be drawn from the archive of the Mapplethorpe Foundation in New York. Teller has yet to make his final selection, but the show will include silver gelatin prints and Polaroids of the beautiful and famous.
Alison Jacques, who has represented the estate of Robert Mapplethorpe in the UK for 17 years, says Teller was the “only choice” to curate the exhibition. Describing the German artist as “provocative and subversive”, whose works are the “antithesis of conventional fashion photography”, Jacques says there are obvious parallels between Teller and Mapplethorpe. “I am excited to see how Juergen will bring his edge, energy and unique vision to a new reading of Robert’s work,” she says.
Like Teller, Mapplethorpe collaborated extensively with the fashion world, working on shoots for magazines including Italian and French Vogue. In 2013, the model David Croland, Mapplethorpe’s first boyfriend who introduced the US photographer to members of the elite fashion set, co-organised an exhibition at Alison Jacques gallery. The show included portraits of some of the most influential figures in the fashion world, from Karl Lagerfeld to Grace Jones.
