The artist who photoshopped images of female celebrities to create a shocking campaign against domestic violence, has issued an apology.

Contemporary artist and activist, Alexandro Polombo uses his work to raise awareness about important cultural issues.

This week, his campaign ‘Life Can be a Fairytale, If You Break the Silence,’ launched to mark International Day for Elimination of Violence, went viral.

The campaign saw Palombo doctor images of female celebrities so their faces appear bruised, cut, beaten and bloody. He also featured beaten Disney princesses holding up signs of their oppressive partners (Disney princes) in order to highlight that violence against women can happen to any woman, anywhere.

The eight-photo series includes Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Angelina Jolie, Miley Cyrus, Emma Watson, Kristen Stewart, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow.

In a press release accompanying the images, Palombo explains that “The biggest accomplice of violence is the silence.”

“Domestic violence is a social cancer that knows no boundaries nor social status, it can affect anyone, whether you’re an ordinary person or a celebrity,” he says.

“Each of us has do their part to help increase awareness and to change things by any means.”

But following the publication of his images, TMZ reported that lawyers for the Kardashian family were attempting to reach out to the artist to issue a warning because Kardashian and Jenner were not happy with their images being used in such a manner, without their permission.

The website reported that while the sisters back the anti-violence message, they feel that their images were not used in a legal manner.

However, the artist insists that the images are commercially available paparazzi shots.

Spokespeople for the artist have now spoken to The Independent, saying that “The artist is sorry if Kim and Kendall are offended by his work, it was not his purpose, at all.”

“Palombo's new series is not a campaign, not an advertisement, not for sale, it's the artist point of view of a social issue, his contribution to break the silence,” they say.

It’s not the first campaign of this style that Palombo has created. His previous work includes Disabled Disney Princesses and Disney Princesses as Breast Cancer Survivors.