The first trailer for HBO’s long awaited Robert Mapplethorpe doc is finally here. Titled Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures, the film traces the life of the controversial photographer; including his early escapades with Patti Smith, his experimental eroticism, and his untimely death from an Aids-related illness. “I always was fascinated with the idea of taking sexuality and bringing it to a level that it hadn’t been to before,” he murmurs in the clip. “The whole point of being an artist is to learn about yourself. The photographs are, I think, less important than the life that one is leading.”
The documentary, which was directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, is the first to be made since Mapplethorpe’s death, and will reportedly feature a wealth of unseen photography and film footage. “Even his most shocking and forbidden images are included without blurs, without snickers,” the filmmakers revealed at the end of last year. “In other words, exactly as the artist intended.”
The film will precede the artist’s first-ever biopic, which is currently in production. Doctor Who’s Matt Smith and Girls’ Zosia Mamet are (controversially) set to star.
Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures will premiere April 4 on HBO. Watch the trailer above.
