MAPPLETHORPE: LOOK AT THE PICTURES, Documentary Portrait of Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe

MAPPLETHORPE: LOOK AT THE PICTURES is an HBO documentary about the life of controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe from his rise to fame in the 1970s to his untimely death in 1989. Directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato share a clip from the film and discuss how Robert Mapplethorpe’s quest for immortality blurred the lines between art and sexuality in this 2016 Sundance edition of BYOD hosted by Ondi Timoner.

GUEST & FILM BIO:
“Look at the pictures.” With these words, Jesse Helms denounced the work of Robert Mapplethorpe. Twenty-five years later, the first and most complete documentary MAPPLETHORPE: LOOK AT THE PICTURES about the artist since his death, by acclaimed directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, does just that,with unprecedented unlimited access to his archives and work. The result is a portrait of the artist who dedicated his life not only to becoming an artist but also to making his chosen medium, photography, respected and valued as a fine art.
With his partner Randy Barbato, producer and director Fenton Bailey made his name with documentaries about such outrageous yet fascinating pop-culture subjects as the wife of disgraced TELevangelist Jim Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000), before branching out into dramatic films with the feature version of their 1998 documentary Party Monster in 2003.