SEX : Madonna by Steven Meisel

[MDNA]

SEX
BY MADONNA

CURATED BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO
PHOTOGRAPHED BY STEVEN MEISEL

SAINT LAURENT RETURNS TO ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH WITH AN EXHIBITION PLANNED AND CURATED BY MADONNA AND ANTHONY VACCARELLO, TO CELEBRATE THE RE-EDITION BY RIVE DROITE OF MADONNA’S GROUNDBREAKING BOOK SEX.

UPON ITS RELEASE IN 1992, MADONNA’S BOOK BECAME A CONTROVERSIAL SENSATION AROUND THE GLOBE, DUE TO ITS EROTIC CONTENT AND LIBERATED VIEWS OF SEXUAL SELF-EXPRESSION. ENVISIONED BY ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSICIANS OF ALL TIME, SEX CONTAINED IMAGERY BY STEVEN MEISEL AS WELL AS WRITTEN TEXT BY MADONNA.

TO MARK THE BOOK’S LASTING IMPACT AND SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY, MADONNA AND ANTHONY VACCARELLO DECIDED TO REVIVE ITS CONTENTS FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IN THE CONTEXT OF AN EPHEMERAL EXHIBITION. THE PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEVEN MEISEL WILL BE ON VIEW IN A TEMPORARY BEACHFRONT BOX BUILT ESPECIALLY FOR THE OCCASION.

SAINT LAURENT’S BESPOKE RE-ISSUE OF THE BOOK IS LIMITED TO 800 COPIES PUBLISHED BY CALLAWAY, NEW YORK, AND WILL BE AVAILABLE STARTING NOV 29TH.

FREE PUBLIC ACCESS, 18 YEARS OR OLDER
ADDRESS: BEACHFRONT AT 17TH STREET
HOURS:
29.11 5 PM - 9 PM
30.11 3 PM - 8 PM
01.12 3 PM - 7 PM
02.12 - 04.12 3 PM - 9 PM

ysl.com

 

[MDNA]

 

[thiago:)]

My favorite project EVER. The older I get, the more I appreciate Sex book. So beautifully done in terms of graphic design, fashion, photography, creativity... Madonna and Meisel might be my favorite duo ever. That was a real connection.

 

[MDNA]

hypebae.com

 

[tigerrouge]

The readers of Vogue Italia in the early 90s probably had an appreciation of this project that wasn't shared by the rest of the world at that time.

This event gives people the opportunity to look back and to see it through that lens.

 

[eugenius]

This is fine and all, but instead of re-releasing her Sex book, I’d rather see YSL actually DRESS Madonna. Any of the designers will do…pick one.

 

[GoldenPetals]

Never understood the worship around this. Softcore p*rn being photographed nicely doesn't make it any less cliche for me. Maybe I'm just sick of society's sex-worship in general.

 

[ivano]

Never understood the worship around this. Softcore p*rn being photographed nicely doesn't make it any less cliche for me. Maybe I'm just sick of society's sex-worship in general.

At the time it was new and significant. The biggest pop star ever making an interesting visual exposition about human sexuality, when people was afraid of having it or talk about it (the AIDS crisis, and the post Reagan years). It was pre internet, so it wasn't everywhere except the most soft pictures in serious media. It's a manifest of love and freedom, an artistic expresion. Madonna it's way more than a fashion icon, a musician, a Hollywood star. I think she helped society to embrace sexuality without fear and prejudice. This is way different from p*rn*gr*phy, where women and men are used like objects in a violent way. This is erotic, it's like intelectual "p*rn", but it has an artistic and deep meaning. I don't blame her for the "sex sell culture" that came later, but compared to the real life negative part of the sex culture (men with power in media molesting actors, models, and others) it was harmless. We are living again in conservative times, as response of all that, even with the Only Fans or Tik Tok/Insta exposition. Sex is nature, is part of life and human behavior. Of course it has universal rules, like every aspect of life, but we shouldn't look at it as a bad thing because the negativity has more impact in media.