David LaChapelle's Major Exhibition in Trieste

David LaChapelle's first exhibition in Friuli Venezia Giulia, 'David LaChapelle – Fulmini', opens at the Salone degli Incanti in Trieste, a former fish market turned exhibition space. Curated by Studio David LaChapelle under Gianni Mercurio's artistic direction, the show features over ninety works spanning his career, including iconic series like 'Jesus is my homeboy' and 'American Jesus', as well as recent large-format works from 2022. LaChapelle's politically charged piece 'Gated Community' (2022) critiques economic disparity in California, referencing the LACMA's $750 million expansion and the state's homelessness crisis, while 'Rape of Africa' (2009) uses Botticelli's Venus and Mars to depict Naomi Campbell as a black Venus. The exhibition opens with the 'Gas Station' and 'Land Scape' series, which question photographic reality through scale models. A dedicated room explores 1990s-2000s societal illusions, consumerism, and body image. The show concludes with 'Revelations' (2019), a hopeful image of a kiss in a desolate suburb, echoing Michael Jackson's 'I Just Can't Stop Lovin' You'.