Did Robert Mapplethorpe explore his gender or identity in his artwork? And how? The answer to the first question is definitely yes. Robert, according to Patti’s description of him in Just Kids, not only explored his gender and identity, but explored them more than any other person I have heard of exploring them. I am very much in favor people discovering who they are, but Robert took this idea to an extreme that became dangerous. This extreme is evident in the artwork that he produced at various periods of his life. Patti Smith describes Robert’s transitions, both personal and artistic, in her novel Just Kids. In the beginning of Patti’s novel, he does his artwork while naked because he feels a closeness with God when doing so. Towards the middle of Patti’s novel, he explores his homosexual urges, falls into an S&M obsession, and depicts Satanic images. By the end of Patti’s novel, he sells his body for money and dies from the AIDS virus that he contracted. His work, as well as his life journey, display an exploration of gender and identity. He develops a passion for photography, which he uses to capture controversial sexual images. Patti herself states that she was embarrassed by some of his pictures and did not understand them. Patti, as well as many other observers of Robert’s art, was confused by how he considered seemingly opposite images to be on the same level. His photos range from pictures of pretty flowers to pictures of naked men performing a variety of actions in various positions. Perhaps to Robert both types of images represented forms of beauty.