Until 17 May 2026, Palazzo Reale in Milan is hosting the second chapter of the exhibition trilogy that opened at Le Stanze della Fotografia in Venice. The spotlight is on desire, explored through more than two hundred works by the American photographer. Curator Denis Curti, alongside Joree Adilman and Eric Johnson from the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation in New York, reflect on the artist’s visual language and approach

More than just a symbol of sensuality, the beauty captured in Robert Mapplethorpe’s photographs – the focus of the exhibition Forms of Desire at the Palazzo Reale in Milan – is linked to the body and to the photographer’s ability to spark a visual and formal dialogue with sculpture. This is one of the thoughts that came up during the conversation between curator Denis Curti and Joree Adilman, Managing Director of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation in New York, whilst the important role played by the Foundation in keeping the photographer’s creative legacy alive is described by Eric Johnson, a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Filming and video editing: Matteo Catania © Hubove Studio

INFO
Robert Mapplethorpe. Forms of Desire
until 17 May 2026
PALAZZO REALE
Piazza del Duomo 12, Milan
https://www.palazzorealemilano.it