ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE,
DOMINICK AND ELLIOT
Click below to reserve a viewing time.
DOMINICK AND ELLIOT
Click below to reserve a viewing time.
March 22,
March 25,
March 29, 2025
22nd: 12 - 6pm
25th: 8pm - 10pm
29th: 12 - 6pm
Each reservation can accommodate up to five people, so feel free to bring friends. You are welcome to stay after your viewing and have a drink.
March 25,
March 29, 2025
22nd: 12 - 6pm
25th: 8pm - 10pm
29th: 12 - 6pm
Each reservation can accommodate up to five people, so feel free to bring friends. You are welcome to stay after your viewing and have a drink.
In 1979, Robert Mapplethorpe took a series of photographs of Dominick and Elliot as they engaged in various acts of sexual domination. In one of the images, for example, Elliot is seen standing, holding a cigarette in one hand and Dominick's balls in another, his pants loosely unbuttoned at the top. Dominick is nude and suspended by the ankles, his arms outstretched in an upside-down crucifixion. This particular image was included in Mapplethorpe's iconic X Portfolio.
But the shoot produced other images as well. The artist gifted Dominick and Elliot a portfolio of 11 unfinished test prints, something he rarely did. While they are not considered finished works of art, they have been in private hands since 1979 and have never been seen publicly.
But the shoot produced other images as well. The artist gifted Dominick and Elliot a portfolio of 11 unfinished test prints, something he rarely did. While they are not considered finished works of art, they have been in private hands since 1979 and have never been seen publicly.
The Kinsey Institute, the premiere sex research institute in the world, in Bloomington Indiana, acquired the portfolio in 2025.
For one week, the portfolio is in New York, sitting on our table, for its first-ever public viewing. Kinsey Institute curator Rebecca Fasman is here to discuss the photographs over a drink or two.
There are limited spaces for each viewing.
For one week, the portfolio is in New York, sitting on our table, for its first-ever public viewing. Kinsey Institute curator Rebecca Fasman is here to discuss the photographs over a drink or two.
There are limited spaces for each viewing.
Robert Mapplethorpe
Dominick and Elliot, 1979
Gelatin silver print
13 15/16 × 14" (35.4 × 35.6 cm)
Robert Mapplethorpe (1946 - 1989, USA) was a photographer known for his self-portraits, portraits of artists, musicians, pornographic film stars, and people in the S&M community, and stylized compositions of male and female nudes, African American men, and delicate flower still lives. The Whitney Museum presented a retrospective of his work in 1988, a year before he died due to complications from HIV/AIDS in a Boston hospital.
Mapplethorpe first met Elliot in 1976 through Jack Fritscher, the editor of Drummer, a magazine for leather enthusiasts, who had commissioned the artist to take a picture of Elliot for the magazine’s cover. It was through Elliot that Mapplethorpe met Dominick and subsequently collaborated with both of them on these images.
The Kinsey Institute Library and Special Collections at Indiana University is the largest public research collection on sexuality, gender, and reproduction on earth.
The Kinsey Institute Library and Special Collections at Indiana University is the largest public research collection on sexuality, gender, and reproduction on earth.
Due to the age and character of the building, the space is not optimized for ADA accessibility and is located up a single flight of 20 stairs with handrails. If you have questions about access, please contact us in advance of the event, and we will make every effort to accommodate you.
