Of the artists and photographers working today, they don’t come more in your face, more unapologetically trashy, more instantly recognisable than David LaChapelle. The self-anointed ”Fellini of photography“ is known as a bold recorder of our times, an artist who fuses the perceived glamour of contemporary celebrity with the physicality and complex compositions of the Italian Renaissance artists. Full of sly humour, his photographs both celebrate and subvert the notion of fame. With their staged artificiality and surrealist fourishes, some teeter in the brink of tastelessness while others deliberately turn your stomach. Among his muses have been the model and actress Pamela Anderson who, under his direction, was photographed in bikini and stilettos wrestling with a bloodied, obese woman dressed as a pig, and the surgically-upholstered transsexual model Amanda Lepore, whom LaChapelle re-cast as Andy Warhol’s Marilyn. His photographs, whether celebrity portraits or pictures of anonymous Americans, are defined by his singular style: garish lighting, kaleidoscopic colours and elaborate compositions awash with symbolism. His pictures seem to glow from within, making everything around them seem shadowy and dull by comparison. Eyes shine, teeth glisten, skin shimmers. Extraordinary in their detail, his pictures leave nothing to the imagination, and they are unequivocal about their meaning.
Not for LaChapelle is the conceptual obfuscation of his artist contemporaries. He prefers direct communication with his audience, making clear statements about wealth, celebrity and the fine line between commodification and prostitution. He has said of his portraits: ”I always try to define that person within the portrait, flattering or not, to capture them. If that celebrity were to die, this would be the image that summed them up.“
Such images would include Sophie Dahl in a bath of baked beans; Naomi Campbell in a bikini astride a giant chocolate bunny; Courtney Love, bruised, naked and clawing around in the dirt; Angelina Jolie having her breasts nibbled by a horse; Kanye West wearing a crown of thorns; Marilyn Manson as a lollipop lady; Paris Hilton crouched on the floor, naked except for the leather bindings that render her immobile. LaChapelle’s statement may smack of hubris, though he’s not far wrong. These are images that, once they are seen, remain emblazoned on your consciousness.
Still, his detractors have accused him of style over substance, and, worse still, of hypocrisy. LaChapelle may mock the cult of celebrity but he has been welcomed into its inner circle and has created the images that have immortalised its biggest stars...
read more in the print edition.
LaChapelle Heaven to Hell
Hardcover, 25.9 x 33 cm (10.2 x 13 in.),
352 Seiten, € 29,99
ISBN 978-3-8365-2284-7
(04/2010 Deutsch,Französisch,Englisch)
Taschen, Köln 2010
„Die einzige Verbindung zwischen Andy Warhol und JLo“ - GQ, London, über David LaChapelle
LaChapelle Heaven to Hell ist der dritte Band der Trilogie, die mit LaChapelle Land (1996) begann und mit Hotel LaChapelle (1999) fortgeführt wurde. Vollgepackt mit außergewöhnlichen und provokanten Aufnahmen, sind diese Titel sofort begehrte Sammlerstücke geworden und wurden wiederholt nachgedruckt. LaChapelle Heaven to Hell ist eine explosive Sammlung der neuen Arbeiten des visionären Fotografen und enthält fast doppelt so viele Bilder wie seine beiden Vorgänger. Die Stärke von LaChapelles Arbeit liegt seit der Veröffentlichung von Hotel LaChapelle in seiner Fähigkeit, den Fokus der Mode- und Glamourwelt auf Themen von gesellschaftlichem Belang zu richten.
LaChapelles Aufnahmen der berühmtesten Gesichter auf diesem Planeten, von Randfiguren wie der transsexuellen Amanda Lepore oder der Besetzung seiner gefeierten Dokumentation Rize stellen unsere Vorstellungen von Geschlecht, Glamour und Status in Frage. Barock, Renaissance, Kunstgeschichte, Kino, die Bibel, Pornografie, Popkultur – aus all diesen Quellen schöpft David LaChapelle, um seine zutiefst persönliche und bahnbrechende Bildsprache zu schaffen, die wie ein Spiegel unserer Zeit wirkt.
