Shocking, sensual symbolism from Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe is a familiar London presence but gallerist Alison Jacques — who represents the Mapplethorpe estate in the UK — frames this show around the theme of the impact of a Catholic upbringing and religious iconography on his work.
The exhibition typically mixes surprisingly tender moments — two naked men dancing, a moored rowing boat on a mildly choppy sea — with the sensual erotic and the hardcore.

Of course, there are the usual shockers. But even though the devil rides through — in the demonic horns on several portraits — there are also exquisitely photographed still-lifes, carrying symbolic intentions. A broken loaf, photographed on a mirror, highlights the curvaceous, buttocky outline of the crust.

As with the drooping white tulip pierced by a thorn, sex and religion merge and stretch beyond Catholicism — from the nude black man lying in the shape of the crucifixion to the frogs arranged like a swastika and a self-portrait posed with a gold pentagram.

A shrine-like room closes the exhibition with two classic portraits of Mapplethorpe: in his leather jacket, and seated on a throne in his dying days. Between them, four collages by the 22-year-old Mapplethorpe are drawn from Sunday school prayer-cards. Titled Unity, they are more precious for their place in Mapplethorpe’s journey than their artistic merit. But the 3D box-shrine depicting the lamb of god introduces an unexpected peacefulness.

Until 21 November.
Information: 020 7631 4720;
www.alisonjacquesgallery.com

Robert Mapplethorpe: A season in hell
Alison Jacques Gallery
W1