Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment

Published on the occasion of Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment, December 9, 1988–January 29, 1989. 

The exhibition that immediately sparked controversy when politicians took offense to the show and the use of public funds provided by the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) to support it, leading to the indictment of the CAC and Director Dennis Barrie on obscenity charges. The historic trial that followed–where for the first time a museum and its director faced criminal charges because of an art exhibition–brought national attention to the subject of public funding for the arts, as well as arts censorship.

Edited by ICA curator Janet Kardon, this fully-illustrated catalog features a dedication by Patti Smith, essays by David Joselit and Kay Larson, and an interview by Kardon with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe. 

• Publish Date: 1989
• Format: Softcover
• Pages: 136
• ISBN: 00884540465