Artist and photographer David LaChapelle has been targeted by a far-right wing Austrian group that claims the posters he created for this year’s starry Life Ball on May 31 are pornographic.
The poster, displayed in Vienna, has two images of busty transgender model Carmen Carrera naked in a garden with alternately female and male genitalia. “I’m Adam. I’m Eve. I’m Me,” reads a tag line.
Organizers said the artwork celebrates the HIV/AIDS benefit’s 2014 theme, “The Garden of Earthly Delights.”
But Austria’s far right Freedom Party (FPO) claims the images are illegal smut.
“The transgender poster . . . does not just cross the boundaries of good taste . . . but . . . also the limits of criminal law,” an FPO rep said. But LaChapelle told us most Austrians have been supportive.
“It’s a very dangerous reminder of a very dark past,” he said of the FPO’s remarks, “which Austria and Germany have tried to erase by funding art destroyed by parties like this.” He added of the image, “It’s not erotic or pornographic. Some people just can’t get past the idea of a naked body. People aren’t scared of images of mermaids or centaurs, but they’re scared of a picture of a woman with male attributes.”
Guests at last year’s Life Ball included Bill Clinton, Elton John, Hilary Swank, Fergie and Karolina Kurkova. Life Ball and FPO reps did not get back to us.