Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
ARTIST ROOMS
National Heritage Memorial Fund
Art Fund
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/robert-mapplethorpe-11413" aria-label="More by Robert Mapplethorpe" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Robert Mapplethorpe</a>
Smutty
ARTIST ROOMS
Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008
actions: postures and motions
adults
body
bracelet
clothing and personal items
crouching
emotions, concepts and ideas
formal qualities
man
objects
people
photographic
tattoo
<p>This black and white square-format portrait photograph features the English bass player Dennis Smith (nicknamed ‘Smutty’), a member of a Rockabilly band called <span>Levi and the Rockats.</span> Shirtless, he wears black trousers with a thin belt and is seated with his hands resting on his left leg. With his head facing to the left, he glances to his right, looking directly at the camera. He sports a version of the 1950s pompadour-style haircut, with a high quiff. His arms feature a variety of tattoos, including what appear to be a stag’s head on his lower left arm and a depiction of the cartoon character Micky Mouse on his lower right arm.</p>
paper print photograph gelatin silver
26 April 2009 – 27 June 2009
2009-06-27
26 April 2009 – 27 June 2009
2009-06-27
2009-04-26
Inverness Museum & Art Gallery (Inverness, UK)
http://www.invernessmuseum.com
2009-04-26
ARTIST ROOMS 2009: Robert Mapplethorpe
Loan-out
19 December 2009 – 27 March 2010
2010-03-27
19 December 2009 – 27 March 2010
2010-03-27
2009-12-19
Graves Art Gallery (Sheffield, UK)
http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/coresite/html/graves.asp
2009-12-19
ARTIST ROOMS 2009: Robert Mapplethorpe
Loan-out
25 September 2010 – 21 November 2010
2010-11-21
25 September 2010 – 21 November 2010
2010-11-21
2010-09-25
Towner (Eastbourne, UK)
http://www.townereastbourne.org.uk/
2010-09-25
ARTIST ROOMS 2010: Robert Mapplethorpe
Loan-out
10 November 2012 – 27 April 2013
2013-04-27
10 November 2012 – 27 April 2013
2013-04-27
2012-11-10
Perth Museum & Art Gallery (Perth, UK)
http://www.pkc.gov.uk/
2012-11-10
ARTIST ROOMS 2012: Mapplethorpe Scottish Tour
Loan-out
11 May 2013 – 11 August 2013
2013-08-11
11 May 2013 – 11 August 2013
2013-08-11
2013-05-11
Old Gala House (Galashiels, UK)
2013-05-11
ARTIST ROOMS 2013: Robert Mapplethorpe
Loan-out
28 February 2015 – 23 May 2015
2015-05-23
28 February 2015 – 23 May 2015
2015-05-23
2015-02-28
Clydebank Museum (Clydebank, UK)
2015-02-28
ARTIST ROOMS 2015: Robert Mapplethorpe
Loan-out
24 September 2022 – 31 October 2024
2024-10-31
24 September 2022 – 1 October 2023
2023-10-01
2022-09-24
National Galleries of Scotland (Edinburgh, UK)
2022-09-24
Conversations with the Collection
Collection based display
Smutty
image: 341 × 341 mm
frame: 611 × 587 × 38 mm
<a href="/search?gid=999999788" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">ARTIST ROOMS</a>
Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the <a href="/search?gid=999999967" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">National Heritage Memorial Fund</a> and the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a> 2008
<div class="text">
<p>This black and white square-format portrait photograph features the English bass player Dennis Smith (nicknamed ‘Smutty’), a member of a Rockabilly band called <i>Levi and the Rockats.</i> Shirtless, he wears black trousers with a thin belt and is seated with his hands resting on his left leg. With his head facing to the left, he glances to his right, looking directly at the camera. He sports a version of the 1950s pompadour-style haircut, with a high quiff. His arms feature a variety of tattoos, including what appear to be a stag’s head on his lower left arm and a depiction of the cartoon character Micky Mouse on his lower right arm.</p>
<p>The photograph was taken in Mapplethorpe’s loft in Bond Street, Soho in 1980, when Smutty was twenty-one. The artist met Smutty through the New York nightclub scene, which they both frequented. The sitter commented on his experience of the photo shoot in an interview: ‘I guess he invited me to his loft, which was in Soho around Mercer Street. I remember going there alone and going into the apartment and noticing that it was kind of bare … flame torches … which looked like a Mexican jail … and a primitive jail type bed … I thought this guy’s cool ... He said that he was a photographer and would I like to see his work. I said yes and started looking through his portfolio’ (quoted in Pavlowski Green 2013). Having seen some of the artist’s more graphic sexual images in the portfolio, Smutty was concerned about what Mapplethorpe would ask of him during the shoot. However, the experience of being photographed was positive: ‘[Mapplethorpe] was so nice and polite, you could not help but love this man. He asked if we could set up a photo shoot and I said yes. We did the shoot and I was thinking what if he asked [sic] me to strip off, shall I? But he never did... It was a great shoot and we became very close friends.’ (Quoted in Pavlowski Green 2013.)</p>
<p>In the resulting photograph Smutty’s androgynous appearance and delicate pose contrast markedly with his tattooed skin and studded wristband; details which may suggest his own darker side as well as that of the rock-and-roll world which he inhabited. Nevertheless, his slightly startled gaze also conveys the vulnerability and uncertainty of youth. Following the photo shoot, Mapplethorpe photographed him on several further occasions, regularly featuring these photographs in his gallery shows. One of these subsequent works, <i>Smutty </i>1982 (Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mapplethorpe-smutty-ar00189" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>AR00189</span></a>), shows the bassist in a more confident pose, standing with his body in profile, leaning casually on his left arm against the wall with his right arm resting on his hip. Gone is the vulnerability evident in the earlier image; his head is turned to look directly at the camera in a posture commanding and almost inviting.</p>
<p>
<b>Further reading</b>
<br/>Patricia Morrisroe, <i>Mapplethorpe: A Biography</i>, London 1995.<br/>Julie Pavlowski Green, ‘Smutty Smith: One Kool Kat’, Patterns and Tones, April 2013, <a href="http://patternsandtones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/smutty-smith-one-kool-kat.html">http://patternsandtones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/smutty-smith-one-kool-kat.html</a>, paragraphs 21–4, accessed 22 June 2014.</p>
<p>Matthew Macaulay<br/>The University of Edinburgh<br/>June 2014</p>
<p>
<i>The University of Edinburgh is a research partner of ARTIST ROOMS.</i>
</p>
</div>

Summary
2016-03-18T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
<p>The nickname, tattoos, studded wristband and knowing look suggest that there is a darker side to this androgynous-looking young man. The placement of the arms and the contrapposto of the body and head are features common in Mannerist art, an area of art history that Mapplethorpe had a particular interest in.</p>

Online caption
2009-04-16T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
actions: postures and motions adults body bracelet clothing and personal items crouching emotions, concepts and ideas formal qualities man objects people photographic tattoo