If you saw that Rolling Stone cover of Lady Gaga against a bright pink backdrop, wearing a bubble dress and with frizzed-out hair, then you're familiar with the work of photographer David LaChapelle. LaChapelle, known for his outlandish and larger-than-life images of celebrities, now has a show at Paul Kasmin Gallery called American Jesus, with the martyr played by none other than Michael Jackson. In one, Jackson lies across the lap of a modern-day hippie Jesus in a forest; in another, titled Beatification, a ghostly white Jackson stands beside the Virgin Mary with a dove and a clock in his hand. Others making an appearance in this show: Naomi Campbell and the devil—though not as the same person.
July 28-Sept. 18, 2010