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Black White + Gray examines the life and lives of influential curator and collector, Sam Wagstaff, a veritable force in the art world for nearly three decades. The film reveals the symbiotic relationship Wagstaff shared with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in New York during the heady years of the 70s and 80s when Mapplethorpe was living with musician and poet Patti Smith.
Yale-educated and born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Sam Wagstaff’s transformation from innovative museum curator to Robert Mapplethorpe’s lover and patron is intensively probed in Black White + Gray. During the heady years of the 1970s and 1980s, the New York City art scene was abuzz with a new spirit, and Mapplethorpe would be at the center of it. Wagstaff pulled him from his suburban Queens existence, gave him a camera and brought him into this art world that seemed to be waiting for him, creating the man whose infamous images instilled emotions ranging from awe to anger. In turn, Mapplethorpe brought the formerly starched-shirt preppie to the world of drugs and gay S-and-M sex, well-documented in his still-startling photographs. Twenty five years separated the lovers, but their relationship was symbiotic to its core, and the two remained together forever. The film also explores the relationship both men had with musician/poet Patti Smith, whose 1975 debut album “Horses” catapulted her to fame.
Wagstaff’s story is one of personal transformation—from conservative, starchy, Yale-educated preppy to downtown habitué, hipster and experimenter. Both he and Mapplethorpe enabled each other to discover different parts of themselves—both men encouraged the other to mine new territory in the arts and in their personal lives as well. Wagstaff’s death from AIDS, in 1987, and later Mapplethorpe’s, in 1989, marked the end of an era. Black White + Gray reveals the powerful troika these two men formed with Patti Smith, and the influence their collective work continues to have over present-day art and culture.
Bonus feature includes an additional interview with Sam Wagstaff at the Corcoran museum.
| Catalog Number: MC-796 |
Type: Feature |
Genre: Art / Artist |
| Copyright: 2008 |
Length: 72 minutes |
Format:
DVD Region: 1 |
| TV System: NTSC |
ISBN: |
UPC: 767685211953 |
| Label: |
This title is available in Europe for Wholesale - List Prices: £19.99 / 29.95€
Wholesale Purchasing:
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Exhibition:
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Films In Compilation
Black White and Gray: A Portait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe directed by
Sam
Wagstaff
USA,
Documentary,
2008,
Color,
Magnetic Stereo,
01:29:00
Black White and Gray examines the life and lives of influential curator and collector, Sam Wagstaff, a Veritable force in the art world for nearly three decades. The film reveals the symbiotic relationship Wagstaff shared with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in New York during the heady years of the 70's and 80's when Mapplethorpe was living with musician and poet Patti Smith. Bonus feature includes an additional interview with Sam Wagstaff at the Corcoran Museum.
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2010-05-26 The New York
"A potent exercise in art-world mythography..."
| 2010-05-13 The New Yorker
Fascinating!
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