the Cryptic

                                                                                                

"envy your life" ~2004

                                                

David LaChapell

The art elite and the laymen art enthusiast (like myself) all have mixed feelings about this near legendary photographer. Among other things, he's revolutionized the world of 'pop' photography for print and the art world.  He draws on art history, historical, biblical, socio-political and (most transparently) pop culture references for his work. Its kitsch. And grimy. Its over the top and frankly... 'American in every way like apple pie and Chevrolet.' And yet his work can be deeply thought provoking. Inducing powerful emotions for the voyeur, who feels as if they are peeking in on their own most base desires. Some see him as a sensationalist. I think he's a genius, documenting the beautiful hideousness of modernity and more specifically American idiocy, one frame at a time.  

the Rape of Africa ~ Photo Installation 09'

'I visited the national gallery and began looking at Botticelli's venues and mars. I wasn’t in love with Botticelli in the way I was in love with Michelangelo, but I saw this painting and was so excited by its personification of the gods in a figurative way. having people represent war, greed, love and beauty, and the fact that they were post-coitus, seemed incredible. it occurred to me that the painting could be contemporary; the ideas in it still seemed so relevant today; as fast moving as our world is, we haven’t progressed with our morality or spirituality.

the use of Africa in my photograph is about it being the cradle of civilization, the idea

of mother earth and mother Africa. the production of gold in Africa is destroying both

the society and the country itself but continues because of our obsession in the west.

the human suffering and the cost to the environment are incalculable. we are degrading our mother and we are raping mother earth in our quest for financial security, but while doing so we are ensuring our own insecurity.' 

David , on his concept behind 'the rape of Africa'

Try it 

seeing is believing go to http://www.lachapellestudio.com/exhibitions/

to get up close and personal go to www.lachapellestudio.com
to support this artist go to http://www.lachapellestudio.com/news/

More on the Artist 
David LaChapelle's photography career began in the 1980's in New York City galleries. After attending the North Carolina School of Arts, he moved to New York where he enrolled at both the Art Students League and the School of Visual Arts. With shows at 303 Gallery, Trabia McAffee and others, his work caught the eye of his hero Andy Warhol and the editors of Interview Magazine, who offered him his first professional photography job. 

Working at Interview Magazine, LaChapelle quickly began photographing some of the most famous faces of the times. Before long, he was shooting for the top editorial publications of the world, and creating the most memorable advertising campaigns of a generation. His striking images have appeared on and in between the covers of magazines such as Italian Vogue, French Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, Rolling Stone and i-D. In his twenty-year career in publishing, he has photographed personalities as diverse as Tupac Shakur, Madonna, Amanda Lepore, Eminem, Philip Johnson, Lance Armstrong, Pamela Anderson, Lil' Kim, Uma Thurman, Elizabeth Taylor, David Beckham, Paris Hilton, Jeff Koons, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hillary
Clinton, Muhammad Ali, and Britney Spears, to name just a small selection.

After establishing himself as a fixture amongst contemporary photography, LaChapelle expanded his work to include direction of music videos, live theatrical events, and documentary film. His directing credits include music videos for artists such as Christina Aguilera, Moby, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, The Vines and No Doubt.

His stage work includes Elton John's The Red Piano, the Caesar's Palace spectacular he designed and directed in 2004, which just recently ended its five year run in Las Vegas. His burgeoning interest in film led him to make the short documentary Krumped, an award-winner at Sundance from which he developed RIZE, the feature film acquired for worldwide distribution by Lions Gate Films. The film was released in the US and internationally in the Summer of 2005 to huge critical acclaim, and was chosen to open the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

Recent years have brought LaChapelle back to where he started, with some of the world's most prestigious galleries and museums exhibiting his works. Galleries such as the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York, Jablonka Galerie in Berlin, the Robilant + Voena Gallery in London; and Maruani & Noirhomme in Belgium have housed his works as well as Institutions such as the Palazzo delle Esposizioni and Palazzo Reale in Italy; the Barbican in London, and The Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin.

In 2009, exhibitions in Mexico City at the Museo del Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, in Paris at the Musee de La Monnaie, and in Guadalajara at the Museo de Las Artes all broke attendance records. These shows presented his latest series of works with which LaChapelle has broken out of the frame, presenting three-dimensional sculptural murals.