Your memorable Valentine

This story starts with clenched, muscular buttocks. The buttocks in question comprise the cover art of the latest Scissor Sisters album Night Work and while they certainly deserve a second glance you would not grasp their full significance unless you had also knew of the man who took that photograph: Robert Mapplethorpe.

The Scissor Sisters, in case you do not know, are fantasic glam-rock/pop/dance band from New York who emerged from the city’s gay scene in 2000. After the group chose Mapplethorpe’s work for an album cover they were approached to curate an exhibition at the Alison Jacques Gallery in London. I was intrigued, between this photographer and such a brilliant band there was a great tangle of glam rock, high art and homoeroticism to unravel.

Mapplethorpe was a controversial artist active in New York from the early 70’s. A long-term partner of Patti Smith, they eventually broke up after he came out as gay. Examples of his work now sit in the National Portrait Gallery, but at the time he was heavily criticised for his approach to racial and homosexual themes. Before dying of complications relating to AIDS in 1989, he succeeded in splitting the art world in two with his short lifetime of work, which often featuring highly classical portraits of men exposing themselves or engaging in sexual acts.

A word of warning if you intend to visit; the gallery space is split over two buildings in the same street. Do not forget, as I did, to visit them both. The sign at the entrance warns visitors of explicit images and this is no exaggeration. There is work from a number of other artists influenced by Mapplethorpe.

Oswaldo Macia and Gillian Wearing deserve special mention. However, none came close to stealing the show. Mapplethorpe rules supreme and the exhibition features the full spectrum of his photography. It ranges from delicate, sensuous photos to some very challenging, obscene portraits. My reaction to the photos was initially shock, but this was soon moderated to wonder. It is impossible to deny his talent in a technical sense. All his work is immaculately and cleverly composed in such a way that he actually demonstrates considerable restraint. In every case the models are portrayed intimately as creatures of perfect beauty and subtlety.

There is a potent sense of tension in all his pictures. The muses, male and female, mostly dancers, strain against fabrics or bonds, muscles bunching as if poised to jump from the frame and connect tangibly with you. The fact that you rarely see their faces focuses the viewer on the sensual. Other works in the gallery feature mirrors which achieve the same effect. As you catch sight of your own reflection you are framed in the gallery, forced to view yourself through Mapplethorpe’s vision of human sexuality.

Despite being charged with sexual energy there is never the suggestion that you are viewing anything close to pornography. This is not simple titillation; there are overt liberal messages in many of his pieces. The iconic image of a man in a suit, his large black penis jutting proudly out, screams out a desire for liberty. In the context of a time when racism and homophobia were still commonplace, this is a passionate battle cry. The owner of the buttocks, a dancer named Peter Reed, was to fall victim a AIDS a few years after the photo was taken.

The dark subject matter could leave you morose but in fact you come away with a sense of celebration. It is interesting that when interviewed, Mapplethorpe said of his work “[that] It was about me, what I wanted to see”. The Scissor Sisters have made sure that the gallery is balanced with pure 80s glam. The homage is not just to the sacrifices made by New York’s gay community during the period but to its life and vibrancy. Macia’s video installation, for example, shows an aerial silk performer dressed head to toe in black latex performing on two white ribbons. This nod to the band’s obsession with dance is truly beautiful and upbeat.

So what is the message to take home? Well, it is a particularly appropriate one given a certain auspicious date in the near future. Human sexuality is a strange, beautiful thing. It has as many weird and wonderful variations as there are people on this planet. Whether this Valentine’s Day will be spent in the arms of your beloved or at home with ice-cream, be happy you are alive, filthy/gorgeous... and you can dance.

Night Work is on at the Alison Jaques gallery until 19th March