Press Release:

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Curated by Adriana Rispoli and Eugenio Viola 

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The event was born as a contemporary link to the exhibition "Tiziano and the Portrait of Corte da Raffaello ai Carracci", organized by the Special Superintendence for the Neapolitan Museum Complex with the support of the Campania Region. The parallel, apparently ironic and irreverent, between the Italian genius of the sixteenth century and the whimsical contemporary photographer is based on the theme of portrait, a favorite genre of both artists, and a reflection on the different clients. Pontiffs, aristocrats and emperors, portrayed by Titian in the age of the Renaissance, become the antecedents of the VIPs belonging to the world of the "star-system", of music and fashion that emerge.

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At a careful look, the contemporary aesthetics of LaChapelle turns out to be a cultured reflection on the classical iconography of the portrait, dense with citations and often-precise juxtapositions. From the official portrait (Hillary Clinton) to the bourgeois (liz taylor), from the allegorical portrait (Kahinde Wiley) to the group portrait (Smashing Pumpkins), the artist always demonstrates a study of the settings, almost maniacally cured, and of the character of the characters, re-proposing a contemporary version of the psychological introspection capacity typical of the portraits of Titian. Some poses of the portrayed characters more openly recall the iconography given to us by the history of art: Marilyn Manson becomes a Christ to the post-human column, while Cristina Aguilera on horseback seems almost the version "

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David LaChapelle is considered one of the ten best photographers in the world and is among the most sought after by international publishers and stars. The style of the artist is characterized by a great ability to play on contrasts and to merge the languages ​​of advertising and photographic reporting through the use of saturated colors and extreme atmospheres. The New York Time Magazine has defined LaChapelle "the Fellini of photography" for the visionary visual system and the narrative ability that allows him to tell a story through a single shot, almost a still image rather than a photograph.

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His surreal, bizarre, exuberant, erotic and extreme images, grotesque, impossible and yet fascinating, with contents and representations often at the limit of outrage, become the mirror of our time: vulgar, chaotic, shameless, hedonistic and sometimes vacuous. of conscience and the ruthless analysis of a brilliant artist, a faithful chronicler of his time. 

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The continuous and untiring search for the originality of LaChapelle has now become a legend in the world of fashion and communication.

VIP -Very Important Portraits has been realized under the patronage of: Special Superintendence for the Neapolitan Museum Pole 

Inauguration: Friday 24 March inaugurated at 17.00 

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For more information please visit the Museo di Capodimonte website.