David LaChapelle (USA, b. 1963)
After attending high school at North Carolina School of the Arts in the mid 1980’s, LaChapelle began showing his photographs in New York City galleries. Soon after, he was hired by by Andy Warhol to work at Interview Magazine. LaChapelle's carefully staged pictures for Warhol's Interview were quickly popularized, leading the photographer to create memorable images throughout international publications.
With his unique approach to image making and groundbreaking vision, the photographer expanded the genre of photography through his widely recognizable staged pictures.
By 1991, The New York Times predicts “ LaChapelle is certain to influence the work of a new generation...in the same way that Mr. Avedon pioneered so much of what is familiar today .”
Over the past thirty years, LaChapelle’s prolific body of work has established the photographer as a fixture in contemporary art. His portrait, stage and film works have become iconic archetypes of America in the 21st Century.
In 2006, LaChapelle returned to his roots in fine art. With a focus on making works in
series, a new period was marked with international exhibitions featuring Deluge (2007),
Earth Laughs In Flowers (2011), Land SCAPE (2013) and Gas (2013).
Notable exhibitions include Tel Aviv Museum of Art , Palazzo Reale (Milan), MOCA
Taipei , Musee de La Monnaie de Paris, Victoria and Albert Museum , Ara Modern Art
Museum (Seoul), and Museo Casa dei Tre Oci (2017 Venice Biennale).
In 2017, LaChapelle released the most extensive book project of his career to-date. Lost
& Found (Pt.1) and Good News (Pt. 2) from TASCHEN, mark the final volumes of a five-book anthology, which began with LaChapelle Land (1996), and continued with Hotel LaChapelle (1999) and Heaven
to Hell (2006).
2018 welcomes exhibitions in Paris, the Netherlands, Cologne, Shanghai, and Poland.
