Artist Creates Photographic Response to the ‘Black Woman Chair’ Photo Spread (NSFW)

The online reaction was fast and swift to Russian-based Garage Magazine’s ludicrous photo spread featuring the publication’s white female editor Dasha Zhukova casually lounging atop a chair shaped like a half-naked black woman in BDSM attire. Russian artist Alexander Kargaltsev decided to respond with art.

The Russian-born, New York City based photographer found the Garage Magazine spread to be tasteless and so countered with a picture of a naked black man sitting on a naked white man (who is in a chair pose). The positioning makes the two men seemingly genitals to genitals.  It’s a powerful image that makes one think of the perception of black masculinity and sexual prowess.

The four things that most notably separate Kargaltsev’s image from Garage Magazine’s are the fact that the two subjects are men, the two subjects are completely naked, both subjects are actual humans and that the black person is in the dominant position.

The artist explained the rationale behind his work to the Huffington Post:

“I was forced to leave Russia because of the discrimination I experienced as a gay. I’m disappointed that the tradition of xenophobia is so strong in my home country that such an image of Ms. Zhukova can appear as if it is normal and unremarkable. Russian people do not seem to realize when people offend the principle of color, nationality, sexual orientation and so on,” said Kargaltsev.

What message do you take away from this new photograph?

Follow Demetria Irwin on Twitter at @Love_Is_Dope and connect with her on Facebook.