Shocking

Bjarne Melgaard, a Norwegian artist that lives in New York, Melgaard, has hit the headlines in recent days because of this photo:

It's Roman Abramovich's girlfriend,  Dasha Zhukova,  sitting on the "chair" by Melgaard.

All the usual suspects are accusing Melgaard of racism when in fact he's satirising the way people jump to this conclusion.  He's rejuvenated a similar work of art, using a white rather than a black woman, made by pop artist Allen Jones in the late 60s:

Good article by Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones about the current brouhaha here:
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/jan/21/racist-chair-bjarne-melgaard-dasha-zhukova#

Melgaard has a track record of producing shocking sculptures.  I suppose it's a good way of getting noticed, akin to cross dressing (Grayson Perry) or appearing drunk on TV (Tracey Emin).

 I'd never heard of  Melgaard (or Allen Jones)  before now ..... not that this proves much!