Abramovich girlfriend Dasha Zhukova causes race storm by posing on 'black mannequin' chair

Art gallery owner Dasha Zhukova has caused an internet outcry and faces allegations of racism after posing on a chair fashioned from a contorted lifelike mannequin of a black woman.

It did not help matters that the photo of Zhukova - a Russian socialite and the girlfriend of oligarch Roman Abramovich - was published on Martin Luther King Day, a national holiday in the US.

The photo accompanied an interview with Zhukova about her art magazine Garage on the Russian website Buro 24/7, a project of fellow Moscow "It girl" Miroslava Duma.

It was widely condemned by bloggers and internet users, and has since been removed from Duma's Instagram feed.

But Zhukova defended the image, saying: "This photograph, published completely out of context, is of an art work intended specifically as a commentary on gender and racial politics. I utterly abhor racism and would like to apologise to anyone who has been offended."

In the photo, the mannequin is naked apart from knee-high boots, elbow-length gloves and black hotpants. She is lying on her back with her legs crushing her breasts against her body and her head tilted up.