January 26, 2018
“FROM THE INSIDE”
By Matthew Dayler
In 1989 “The Perfect Moment,” a Cincinnati exhibit of 175 Robert Mapplethorpe prints resulted in a high-profile obscenity trial that raised challenging issues about censorship, the role of art, and even the survival of the National Endowment for the Arts—and triggered a local anti-gay rights backlash that lasted more than a decade. 25 years later Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center commemorated the exhibit, not with a display of Mapplethorpe’s work, but examined the impact of his work through the lens of other artists. Speaking with Outlook Columbus, Art Academy of Cincinnati professor Matthew Dayler, who contributed three outdoor works, said Mapplethorpe’s work told him “making work with gay themes was OK and that being myself was important.” “From the Inside” is painted in downtown Cincinnati in Doerr Alley north of 7th St.  @mdayler @outlookcbus @cincycac @streetartcities​ Â
(Huge thanks to assistant editor Phil Armstrong @cincyrefined for pointing me in the right direction on this one.)
