Edited by The Fashion Web
David LaChapelle has his own way of doing an art opening. Last night at Paul Kasmin Gallery, for the vernissage of his American Jesus show, he had cameos from Julian Schnabel and Lenny Kravitz (pictured above, with LaChapelle and Amanda Lepore) and a crowd of people photographing him as he danced—in a white caftan, no less. As it happened, there was a Jersey Shore party going on at the same time next door at Marquee—”probably a metaphor for my life,” LaChapelle shrugged.
That life is a busy one at the moment, with Chelsea the latest stop on the attention-getting show’s world tour. The abridged American Jesus exhibition at Paul Kasmin puts extra focus on three photos depicting the late Michael Jackson (well, a lookalike) as Christ and features a striking image of Naomi Campbell as Cleopatra. A broadly expanded version of the show opens at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art later this month. “It’s going to go on until people don’t want to see it any more, I guess,” LaChapelle said at the Standard’s High Line Room, where he was joined by the likes of Cynthia Rowley and Rory Tahari for the post-opening dinner. Speaking of going on, so did the party—the LaChapelle crew adjourned upstairs to the Boom Boom Room for some postprandial dancing, where they mixed with the likes of Yigal Azrouël and J.Crew’s Jenna Lyons. It was the last Boom, so to speak—the final late night of BBR revelry before the space is reborn as a private club after the summer. LaChapelle’s own take on resurrection? “I believe that there’s more to me than what’s contained between my hat and my shoes,” he said.
—Darrell Hartman
Photo: Shaun Mader/Patrick McMullan
