in online exhibition 55 Years of Schellmann Art
Mirror Image, 1988
Two laminated gelatin silver prints and mirrored Plexiglas in five color variations (blue, red, smoke, violet, green) in a black wooden frame, 48.3 x 134.6 x 2.5 cm. Edition: 18, signed and numbered on label on verso of piece.
With Mirror Image, Robert Mapplethorpe created a striking three-dimensional edition, composed of two laminated gelatin silver prints and a central panel of colored Plexiglas, all set within a black wooden frame. The diptych presents two women in nearly symmetrical, reclining poses, dressed in strappy lingerie that accentuates the sculptural quality of their bodies. The mirrored Plexiglas at the center acts as both a visual and conceptual axis – suggesting reflection, duality, and inversion. With its formal precision and exploration of beauty, sexuality, and identity, Mirror Image exemplifies Mapplethorpe’s distinctive approach to the body as an object of aesthetic and symbolic contemplation.
