BLACK WHITE + GRAY (2007) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: James Crump
A revealing look at the life and work of Sam Wagstaff, the curator whose personal and professional relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, together with a passion for collecting all kinds of photographs, had a profound effect on the way people look at pictures. Along the way, the movie makes the case for curating as an art in itself: The way art is displayed and promoted has a lot to do with how it's perceived, and whether it's perceived at all. As hedonistic gay men who loved to provoke, Wagstaff and Mapplethorpe were made for each other, a connection that endured to the end of their lives, despite a 25-year age gap. Both men died of AIDS, Wagstaff at 65 in 1987, Mapplethorpe two years later at 42.
