The exhibition at Le Stanze della Fotografia in Venice is an unmissable opportunity to closely observe the work of Robert Mapplethorpe, capable of condensing in his shots the peculiarities of worlds that are only apparently distant. The curator Denis Curti talked with Dimitri Levas, vice president of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation and friend of the photographer who died in 1989

What was the atmosphere like in Robert Mapplethorpe’s studio? What were the relationships that connected him to his subjects? What did it mean for him to work with the world of fashion? These are just some of the questions that emerged from the conversation between Denis Curti, curator of the exhibition Robert Mapplethorpe. Le forme del classico, set up at Le Stanze della Fotografia on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, and Dimitri Levas, vice president of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation in New York. A dialogue that combines the private story and the professional history of the photographer, offering details full of meaning.

BIO
Denis Curti is the artistic director of Le Stanze della Fotografia. In 2014 he founded STILL, a multifunctional space in Milan with a focus on photography. He is the artistic director of the “Festival di Fotografia” in Capri and in the past he directed the “SI FEST” in Savignano sul Rubicone. He is the editor-in-chief of the magazine Black Camera and Course Leader of the Master in Photography of Raffles Milano. In the Nineties he directed the photographic section of the IED in Turin and the Fondazione Italiana per la Fotografia. For over fifteen years he was a journalist and photo critic for the pages of Vivimilano and Corriere della Sera, from 2005 to 2014 he was director of Contrasto and vice president of the Fondazione Forma in Milan.

Dimitri Levas was a student at the San Francisco Art Institute and The California College of Art in Oakland, California. He became the Director of The Charles Cowles Gallery in New York City in 1980. In 1982 he was assistant to the design director at Tiffany and Company in New York City. In 1983 he began working freelance for Vogue Magazine as a set designer.
From 1988 to this day, he became the Artistic Director and Vice President of The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. He began working with fashion photographer Bruce Weber in 1989 as an art director/set designer until 2023.
Starting in 1985 and up to today he has been a book designer with well over fifty books published.

INFO
Robert Mapplethorpe. Le forme del classico
until 6 January 2026
LE STANZE DELLA FOTOGRAFIA
Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice
https://www.lestanzedellafotografia.it

Cover photo, filming and video editing: Matteo Catania © Hubove Studio