Group of Misfits

LaChapelle wanted to "rescue the teachings of Christ" from the fundamentalists, who tend to use His words to persecute and judge others rather than show love.

Here, Jesus is portrayed as remarkably traditional and conspicuously white, draped in red and blue robes, echoing Leonard da Vinci's enduring mural from the 1490s, while the apostles in LaChapelle's version are of different races. Judging by their dress code, they are influenced by urban hip-hop culture.

By portraying them as a group of young men who are often stereotyped and even stigmatized by the clothes they wear, the work shares the sentiment that the apostles were perhaps a group of misfits, joined together with common beliefs and a sense of brotherhood.

The posture, facial expressions, and hand gestures are timeless, and would not be out of place in either a High Renaissance religious painting or a 21st-century photoshoot. The lighting and décor of the room, on the other hand, are decidedly borrowed from the pop culture of today, reminiscent of stage lighting overhead in a somewhat unkempt, unfashionably decorated room and a halo effect illuminating the figure of Jesus Christ.