Robert Mapplethorpe, Lisa Lyon
05 Works, The Art Of The Nude, Lisa Lyon, with footnotes # 6
The most-talked-about photographer of the 1980s, Robert Mapplethorpe was a belated classicist who understood how to present provocative themes in catchy visual images. After his photographic work with the New York leather scene, male nudes, and erotically-charged flower studies, Mapplethorpe turned his lens on the first female world champion in body-building. The resulting cycle is probably his most comprehensive work, and at the same time constitutes an homage to the new, strong woman, who is aware of her body. More on Mapplethorpe and Lyon
Lisa Lyon, c. 1982
Gelatin silver print
50.80 x 40.60 cm
National Galleries of Scotland
Here, Lyon is shown in a striped leotard, mid-stretch as if she is about to start working out. The harshness of the brick wall contrasts with the lighting and contrapposto pose which leads the eye up Lyon’s muscular figure. More on this photograph
Lisa Lyon, was born in Los Angeles, California in 1953 and studied art at the University of California at Los Angeles. There she became accomplished in the Japanese art of fencing, kendo, but found herself lacking sufficient upper body strength so she began weight training. This eventually led her into bodybuilding…
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