The New York Times Feature: Mary Magdalene
Updated: Sep 24
David’s “Mary Magdalene: Abiding Lamentation” is shown installed alongside
the sculpture “Wild Woman (Maria Magdalena)” by Kiki Smith (1994).
The New York Times features David LaChapelle’s Mary Magdalene: Abiding Lamentation in its coverage of the Städel Museum’s major exhibition “Mary Magdalene: Sin. Pray. Love.” The exhibition in Frankfurt brings together more than 100 works spanning centuries to examine the evolving image and cultural legacy of one of the Bible’s most enduring figures.
LaChapelle’s 2018 portrait of Kim Kardashian as Mary Magdalene is presented within the exhibition’s contemporary section. In the article, Städel curator Dr. Eclercy describes LaChapelle’s image as part of a group of contemporary works that reinterpret Mary Magdalene through modern visual culture. The exhibition places LaChapelle’s photograph within a lineage stretching from historic religious painting and sculpture to photography and contemporary art.
In Mary Magdalene: Abiding Lamentation, LaChapelle draws upon the centuries-old visual tradition surrounding Magdalene while creating an image unmistakably situated within contemporary culture. The Städel exhibition considers precisely this evolution: how artists across generations have continually reimagined Mary Magdalene in response to the beliefs, values and visual language of their own time.
Sacred imagery has long occupied an important place within LaChapelle’s work. Throughout his career, he has returned to saints, biblical figures and Christian iconography as a means of exploring faith, compassion, suffering, redemption and transcendence. His celebrated Jesus Is My Homeboy series brought Christ into contemporary settings, while works including Intercessionand his interpretations of Mary Magdalene continue a dialogue between traditional religious imagery and the present day.
“Mary Magdalene: Sin. Pray. Love.”Städel Museum, Frankfurt
September 17, 2026 – January 17, 2027
Featured in The New York Times, September 22, 2026.
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