The exhibition will be made up of five themes: environment, gender identity, body image, and societal ideals of both beauty and religion. This final subject focuses on LaChapelle’s earlier works, and a key part of his youth. “For centuries, religion was not taboo and it was very much part of the fabric of art and culture,” he explains. “…any opportunity to incorporate prayer and positivity into my life, and for that matter in my work, is a good thing.”
Religion, as with each of the show’s themes, will exist within an overarching thread of art-historical references and among layered explorations around the construct of celebrity. “From the mediaeval era to the renaissance and beyond, kings, popes, royal families, and religious churches have supported the arts through commissions,” says LaChappelle.
“This tradition has intrigued me, and that is why many of my own religious works may include people that make up that world today. I make these works with sincerity, and if someone like Michael Jackson or Kim Kardashian can help bring attention and focus to that spiritual visual and feeling, all the better.”