Jeff Koons and David LaChapelle both knowingly challenge the viewer with their work. Both incorporate ideas of kitsch, pop art and exaggeration. 

In Clement Greenberg's seminal essay Avant Garde and Kitsch (1939) the modernist critic describes the properties of high art  as something which can be seen to be skilled - such as paintings from the Renaissance, including typically, detailed portraits of people, displaying knowledge of techniques and practices in art. He goes on to compare this with 'kitsch' which he describes as making art anything you want it to be, using culture of some sort to provide a more accessible foundation for knowledge within the arts to people who may not fully understand genuine culture such as Michelangelo's David. 

As Greenberg describes:"To fill the demand of the new market, a new commodity was devised: ersatz culture, kitsch, destined for those who, insensible to the values of genuine culture, are hungry nevertheless for the diversion that only culture of some sort can provide" (www.sharecom.ca). 

Greenberg's hypothesis might link to the work of Koons and LaChapelle because their (postmodern)work is considered to be more accessible when considering the references made to celebrity culture and the perception by the art market that what they do is indeed high art (It is certainly art with high price tags).

The use of exaggeration in Koons' and LaChapelle's work also references the baroque period in art which produced drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur. The style, beginning around 1600 in Rome, Italy spread across most of Europe. Popular with the Roman Catholic Church, Baroque suited the church due to it's capacity to communicate religious themes with direct and emotional involvement from viewers, - asserting authority, power and control, as well as referencing the tremendous wealth of the Roman Catholic Church.  

When considering these terms and styles of art, Koons and LaChapelle both use extravagance as a way of expressing a darkly humorous take on what surrounds us in everyday media such as the papers and television.   For example Jeff Koons' sculpture Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988) is deliberately large scale, exaggerating the banality of the subject matter, as well as making a statement about value. It can also be interpreted to reference idolatry for example in relation to its religious reference to Michelangelo's Chapel of Pieta (1498) which depicts St. Mary cradling the body of her dead son in her lap after the Crucifixion. Considered to be an important work, the pieta  balances Renaissance ideals of classical beauty with naturalism (http://en.wikipedia.com). 

In some ways, Koons' work depicts the opposite of  ideals of classical beauty and naturalism, yet it reflects the mocking humour that celebrity culture can provoke; especially in relation to the unnatural appearance of Michael Jackson through his use of plastic surgery, and the value of the 'ideal' in today's image conscious society. 

Michael Jackson and Bubbles, Jeff Koons (1988)

Similarly, LaChapelle also created a extravagant photograph of Michael Jackson which also references the Chapel of Pieta in his picture American Jesus: Hold me, Carry me boldly (2009). This photograph also references idolatry, making humour out of celebrity culture and pin pointing how valued it is in today's society, by making it ridiculously extravagant with  vivid colour and detail which exaggerates the irony of what is being displayed. Considering how the pieta balances Renaissance ideals of classical beauty with naturalism, LaChapelle's photograph mimics this idea in a crude humour.

 The reference to Michelangelo's Chapel of Pieta was originally not to represent death, but to show the communion between man and God by the sanctification through Christ. 

LaChapelle's intentions for this photograph were not to represent death but to represent the 'sanctification' of Micheal Jackson, projecting the irony of the institution that tried to prosecute Jackson for pedophilia in a exaggerated and darkly funny way. Although they use different formats, (sculpture and photography) to express humour, their styles both link to kitsch, extravagant, flourished interpretations of celebrity culture and it's value.

“I’m not condemning the Catholic Church — it’s too big, it’s like condemning a nation and that would be prejudiced. But what I’m doing here is pointing out an irony: Here you have an institution that has systematically protected pedophile priests and then you have an innocent Michael Jackson, who California spent millions of dollars trying to prosecute and could not do it because it was complete bulls–t.” (www.davidlachapelle.com) 

American Jesus: Hold me, Carry me boldly, David LaChapelle (2009)

Another relevant example of Jeff Koons work is his ArtPop (2013) sculpture. This sculpture was created and used as an album cover for singer Lady Gaga's "Artpop". Just like his sculpture of Michael Jackson this sculpture is kitsch and extravagant seen in the exaggerated scale of the piece, and making a large reference to celebrity culture, making it something appealing, and in this case, seductive to the appeal of celebrity life. The use of over exaggerated sexuality within this sculpture's pose can arguably be seen as a strategy to promote celebrity culture as well as to show how celebrity culture tends to challenge the viewer in music videos and the outfits celebrities wear to try and make them unique but cliche. However it can be seen to be humorous in some ways as the extravagant size of this sculpture makes the link to celebrity culture and sexuality in some ways become banal. The use of the blue mirror ball perhaps references Koons' balloon sculptures can be interpreted as a play on words with the album title "Artpop" as the mirror ball not only references sexuality but it highlights the sculpture's vulnerability. "The Gaga cover is like a combination of all these different things," Karmel said. "The image with the cut-up collage pieces is something you see in a lot of his paintings from 20 years ago, but the [gazing] ball is like a miniature version of the balloon sculptures. And the fact that it's between her legs ... you can't help thinking about what's behind it, which brings to mind the 'Made in Heaven' series. It seems pretty brilliant to me." (MTV).

Artpop, Jeff Koons (2013)

 Both of these artists, use inspiration from pop and celebrity culture to create work about how the media influences our everyday. There is arguably a strong sense of humour in these pieces of work that are very bold, dynamic and aesthetically pleasing, and, both of these artists can be considered to be relevant to my focus.