British artist Jonathan Yeo's latest exhibition "Porn in the USA" opened last night at the Lazarides Gallery in Beverly Hills. Art fans turned out, amoungst them Christina Aguilera and Shepard Fairey (the artist who made the iconic Obama portrait "Hope"), to see a show that is sure to turn some cheeks red with its sneakily provocative collages.

When we first arrived, I saw what looked like painted portraits -- Sarah Palin and Tiger Woods alongside tasteful female nudes -- certainly no porn... or so I thought. But closer inspection revealed there were indeed more pictures of genitalia in a single one of Yeo's works than in the entire stack of magazines under a teenage boy's bed. The effect is like looking at a hologram, only instead of tilting from side to side, you zoom in and out. Realizing that a nipple is actually a cutout of another (less prevalent in fine art) bodily orifice is outdone only by discovering Tiger Woods' hat is made of penises (or maybe that isn't so surprising).

Yeo, who is self-taught, had previously been lauded for his masterfully lifelike oil paintings of Nicole Kidman, Tony Blair, Minnie Driver, and Dennis Hopper. But he made waves stateside in 2007 when he unveiled a striking new portrait of George W. Bush, his first collage. The entire thing was constructed of clippings from pornographic magazines. The impressively reproduced wrinkles under his eyes? Well, they're actually pictures of another wrinkly part of the human physique... Yeo went on to produce portraits of Paris Hilton (bought last year by the artist Damien Hirst) and Hugh Hefner, as well as Palin and Woods -- all subjects particularly apt for the project.

In an interview in this month's Vanity Fair, Yeo explaines that porn is a practical source for collages of human faces because there's such a variety of color and texture in the flesh on the pages. He also acknowledges that the images elicit an emotional response unlike anything he could produce with another medium.

Famous faces made of porn would risk being written off as a cheap -- albeit clever -- gimmick if it were not for their expert craftsmanship. From a distance, the portraits are as uncannily recognizable as his paintings. And the arrangement of flesh cutouts look like brush strokes. "Porn in the USA" may have much of its stock in the shock value of graphic sex acts, but Yeo smartly maintained a commitment to artistry. The merit of his works stands even when they are viewed from a PG-13 distance, then the experience of zooming in adds an eye-popping second layer. The series of nudes is especially poignant because it depicts the female form in dual context. Rarely is art simultaneously so beautiful and so lewd.

The Lazarides Gallery, which has permanent locations in London and Newcastle, opened up its temporary Beverly Drive space in April and will show exhibitions through August. Former Lazarides shows in L.A. have included Banksy's "Barely Legal" in 2006 and Antony Micallef's "Impure Idols" in 2007. Perhaps even more provocative than the gallery's past offerings, Jonathan Yeo's collages will be on display until August 8th and they're not for the faint of heart (unless you leave your glasses at home).

Lazarides Beverly Hills
320 North Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, CA, 90210
open daily 11 am to 7pm, free entry
www.lazinc.com

Story by Chrissy Humphreys (chrissy@la2day.com).

Photos by Melody Dye (pkipsy@gmail.com).