This Monday, Miroslava Duma’s new online magazine Buro 247 published an article on Russian socialite Dasha Zhukova. The seemingly innocent article about her life, fashion and career was paired with an image of the Editor-in-Chief of Garage Magazine comfortably perched on an extremely life-like black mannequin, who is naked save for a pair of leather-look black panties, a dominatrix-style belt, elbow-length gloves and knee-high boots.
Naturally, the Internet reacted about the juxtaposition of Dasha and the chair, a controversial design by ’60s pop artist Allen Jones that was also a source of contention during the height of its popularity in the ’60s. As these things typically go, both Miroslava and Dasha released an apology…one more sincere than the other, but we’ll let you decide which is which for yourself.
Miroslava Duma’s apology read:
“Dear all, Buro 24/7 team and I personally would like to express our sincerest apology to anyone who we have offended and hurt,” she writes on Instagram. “It was ABSOLUTELY not our intention. We are against racism or gender inequality or anything that infringes upon anyone’s rights. We love, respect and look up to people regardless of their race, gender or social status. The chair in the photo should only be seen as a piece of art which was created by British Pop-Artist Allen Jones, and not as any form of racial discrimination.”
While Dasha Zhukova got a little wordier with her response:
“The chair pictured in the Buro 24/7 website interview is an artwork created by Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard, one of a series that reinterprets art historical works from artist Allen Jones as a commentary on gender and racial politics. Its use in this photo shoot is regrettable as it took the artwork totally out of its intended context, particularly given that Buro 24/7′s release of the article coincided with the important celebration of the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I regret allowing an artwork with such charged meaning to be used in this context. I utterly abhor racism and would like to apologize to those offended by my participation in this shoot.
Garage Magazine has a strong track record of promoting diversity and racial and gender equality in the worlds of art and fashion, and will continue in our mission to stir positive debate on these and other issues.”
The lesson? Let’s be a little less carefree when it comes to perceiving anyone of any color as an object.
