Kiasman näyttely Robert Mapplethorpin (1946-1989) valokuvista oli jo tuttua aikaisempien Lontoon ja Tukholman Fotografiskan pohjalta. Vastakohtaisuus Höltön näyttelyyn ei olisi voinut olla suurempi. Kumpikin edusti selvästi omaa aikaansa, Mapplethorp 1970-lukua. Aiheet oli aseteltu kliinisesti taideteoksiksi: muotokuvia, alastomia vartaloita, kukkasia, kreikkalaisia patsaita. Patti Smithin kuvista olen
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I saw in Helsinki two powerful photograph exhibitions in a row. Ismö Hölttö´s (b. 1940) big exhibition of black and white photos from the 1960`s was in Ateneum Art Museum. He photographed affectionately people as well in the countryside and on the streets of his home town Helsinki. The countryside was in a transition, but you could still see the traditional handwork, making hay by hand, the clothes were threadbare, but the smiles broad. You could see the markings of hard work in old farmers and the children were laughing around. In the streets of Helsinki you could already see the beginning of a new
Robert Mapplethorp´s (1946-1989) photographs in Kiasma Art Museum are already familiar to me after exhibitions in London and Stockholm´s Fotografiska. The contrast to Hölttö`s exhibition couldn´t be bigger. Both were clearly representatives of their time, Mapplethorp of the 1970`s. His subjects were clinically staged to art works: portraits, naked bodies, flowers and Grecian statues. I have always liked the photographs of Patti Smith, and so it was now. Other photographs have felt earlier more striking. Perhaps you should not experience these two exhibitions quite in a row, the ways to take photos and the results are so different. In Hölttö´s pictures people are themselves in their own surroundings - Hölttö takes photographs. In Mapplethorps pictures the subjects are precisely illuminated and staged to emphasize the message - Mapplethorp makes visual art.
