David LaChapelle comes to London
By Milosh Harajda

Early evening in London is time when all taxi drivers switch the meter, shops are still crowded. London girls are about to finish their makeup, reserved cards are put. On the tables in fancy restaurants and millions of People are finalizing their evening plans. On Monday, October 13th, my journey started at Piccadilly Circus, passed Old Bond Street and lead to my final destination: R+V gallery. Holding a glossy colorful invitation card I walked up to the first floor, grabbed a glass of champagne and since then, the time stopped to exist.

JESUS COMING TO LONDON The icon of the world of contemporary photography, David LaChapelle came to the capital to introduce one of his most provocative exhibitions JESUS Is My Homeboy. The piece has been brought from Fotograficka Musset gallery in Stockholm. So rather conservative England left several square meters to the New York City rebel to present the pop culture of the third millennium. The controversial exposition was a collection of the photograph inspired by the Bible, Stories of an Old and New Testament set into contemporary world of night cities gained under his hands different level of meaning, rich colors and shocking attribute. LaChapelle often walks on the border between Bible and pornography and serves his masterpieces with glamour of five star advertising campaigns. A walk through his surreal world is a celebration of POP art full of colors. It was Andy Warhol whose initials stand at the beginning of David's career in INTERVIEW magazine. Since then, the brand LaChapelle has been sparkling intensively in the world of photography.

INSIDE THE HOUSE As London was being covered by falling darkness, the interior of R+V gallery was filling with the high society of London. Bubbles of champagne were rising towards the ceiling, cameras were intensively flashing and Jesus Christ was watching the happening from the pictures. Fashion designers, models, journalists, PR agents, eccentric artists and three students from the University of Bedfordshire defiled in front of large photos in decent semi-darkness. A bright ray of light flashed through the room, when a lady with soup on the top on her head entered the room. Campbell soup by Andy Warhol wasn't the one and only extravagant piece.

Fellows in nylons, ladies wearing massive platforms and a couple of teen kids suspiciously shuffling their nose. The author spent the whole night in his typical baseball cap, leather jacket and colorful trainers and first 15 minutes became of centre of attention, which isn't a status he feels comfortable with. That's why, during the opening an exhibition Artists and Prostitutes in New York he was disguised as yellow sponge. Having done some interviews for Fashion TV and BBC, David spent the rest of the evening in various groups of guests. A decadent flavor of the night was present in every detail and didn't let them forget the fact they became a part of LaChapelle territory, which was continuously tracked by object lens of Matt Robinson. This man's CV includes assignments for MTV, TONI & GUY and various documentaries. At the moment he's editing the material of LaChapelle's exhibition which will be posted on photographer's official website.

MUSE AMANDA Amanda Lepore was indirectly present at the opening as well-smiling from the picture in the library. The American transsexual gained worldwide fame when his physical aspect became muse of David LaChapelle. This New York city guy had his first plastic surgery done at the age of 15 and so started the uncountable series of operations leading to a "perfect' metamorphosis. The fruit of their collaboration can be seen in a book called Hotel LaChapelle and a couple of years later, TASCHEN editorial introduced a real jewel in the world of contemporary art: a photography book of Artist and Prostitutes. It was published in limited edition; each piece was signed by the author, cost 2000 Euros and is completely sold out .The exhibition was divided into two rooms, and each one had its own controversial version of an altar. The first one was a shot of Kurt Cobain's widow imitating a famous Pieta. Rocker and drug addict Courtney Love represents the Virgin Mary and dead Cobain Jesus Christ. The picture became famous as a cover of David's ultimate publication: Heaven to Hell and during the opening act it was literally shining on the wall. Another rather daring photo was a shot of American rapper Kanye West being a clear allusion to the passion of the Christ and yet another proof that our terrestrial rules expire in LaChapelle's world. A little hand on my watch turned around twice and that was the time when Fellini of photography walked out towards the hotel. The gallery room was gradually falling into the silence and all the temporary inhabitants got lost in the night streets of London. The moonlight was reflecting on the wet concrete, my pocket was full of new business cards and I had a signature of genius between my fingers. See you in Paris…