Jay StrubbergThe nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton that went viral this past week from an internet hacking scam just found another forum to bring them to public eye. They'll be on display at an art gallery.
Cory Allen Contemporary Art announced it will display "life-size and unaltered" shots of both J-Law and Upton as part of Los Angeles artist XVALA's "Fear Google" campaign in St. Petersburg, Florida.
According to the gallery press release, the bare-all celebrity photos will join a "7 year collection of images found on Google of celebrities in their most vulnerable and private moments, that were comprised by either hackers or the paparazzi."
That collection will also include some other headline-inducing pictures like Britney Spears' shaved head from 2007 and a nude photo of Scarlett Johansson from 2011.
XVALA explained his reasoning for exposing the nude photos further, saying, "In today’s culture, everybody wants to know everything about everybody. An individual’s privacy has become everyone else’s business. ... It has become cash for cache." And the gallery's publicist Cory Allen said the exhibit will help "strengthen the ongoing debate over privacy in the digital era."
XVALA's website seems to mirror that sentiment. The words "New World Order" and a giant eye are the lone graphics on his page, which seems to at least hint at the artist's belief of some "Big Brother"-type of influence on society.
But still, both reps for Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton have said they'll press charges against those who post any of the stars' leaked nude photos. So, can XVALA actually get away with this exhibit?
That's not immediately clear. In the exhibit's defense, Allen told Fox News the images of J-Law and Upton are a small portion of a larger exhibit focused on privacy. Plus, he said XVALA isn't "trying to exploit anything," stressing the images will be considered "art" not "photos," and they have no plans to share any of it outside of the gallery.
And, concerning Jennifer Lawrence, it's disputed whether or not she actually owns the copyright to some of the pictures, so they might be fair game to whomever snatched them. (Video via Extra)
Shifting venues from L.A. to St. Petersburg to display the showroom is also a bit eyebrow-raising.
As MTV points out, they might have chosen to switch locations because "posting nude photos without consent and with the intention for causing distress is actually against the law" in Los Angeles. That same language supposedly doesn't apply in St. Petersburg.
Pending any legal hurdles, the exhibit titled "No Delete" is scheduled to be on display starting October 30th.
This video contains images from Getty Images / Rob Kim, Jacob Andrzejczak, Pascal Le Segretain
