It all started with the Bondage Chair by Allen Jones.
Which chair had to be remade by Bjarne Melgaard.
Last year the virtual world exploded when Russian socialite, fashionista and art collector Dasha Zhukova (married to Roman Abramowich) was pictured on Bjarne Melgaard’s version for an interview with Russian buro 24/7/. It was published on the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. which was wideley misunderstood and critisized on the internet. See for instance the Hollywood Reporter.
According to Art Info:
Melgaard and his dealer, Gavin Brown, are taking a different tack. In a statement sent to ARTINFO today, the pair called the photo of Zhukova “extraordinary” and said they “applaud both the sitter and the seated.” The duo goes on to say, “To fault the sitter, now in the age of the Anthroposcene, in the midst of extraordinary and REAL obscenities that threaten our actual existence, reflects a civilization that is not dying but already dead.”
The Urban wrote about a photoshoot for the Sir NY spring collection with an answer to the Melgaard chair.
And Pierluigi Vecchi linked me to a male white and male black models photo as an answer.
Finally hmvm mentioned the Proportion London with Rick Owens male model submitting himself as a model for a chair. This may close the (chair)gate…
Update
Not entirely. As I discovered this comical cartoon by Dutch Cartoonist Ruben Oppenheimer:
Putin seated on Rutte, the Dutch prime minister. “Citius Altius Fortius” is Latin for “Faster, Higher, Stronger”.