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Since access to Michael Jackson’s grave is most likely VIP-only, your best bet when it comes to paying respects to the late King is Rusel Parish’s meticulously crafted Cult of Michael Jackson Chapel, whose opening reception was held Friday night at Figureworks (168 North 6th St between Bedford and Driggs Aves, Williamsburg, Brooklyn; 718-486-7021, figureworks.com).
Parish appeared dressed in all black with an embroidered jacket and a single, rather awesome, sequined glove (“eight bucks!” he later boasted). The Jackophile said a few words about his work in front of a small audience and came clean on his lifelong fixation with the singer—like we needed to hear it from his lips. Just looking around the cozy space, Jackson’s face is everywhere, and we do mean everywhere. What’s more, it’s all for sale. The altarlike centerpiece, Saint Michael Jackson, depicts Jackson in a humble, prayer-like pose and costs a mere $18,000. Prominently situated opposite a prayer bench and flanked by candles and burgundy drapes, it conjures a feeling that’s unavoidably sacred.
Parish, who let on that both Fox and CBS would be stopping by in the next day or two, is excited by all the attention, and explained that the show is scheduled to run until the end of October. So worry not! You’ve still got time to pick up your very own Michael Jackson–shaped soap ($30 for the heart-shaped boxes; $25 for assorted boxes), or the aptly titled “Michael Jackson in a Lantern” ($90), or even a silk-screen Cult of Michael Jackson Scripture Scroll ($400). The choices are indeed endless. But you can stop when you’ve gotten enough. Or not.








