Forget the literary smut of today, back in the 90s no one was doing sexy books quite like Madonna. Granted, it was only one and it was meant for our coffee tables, however the release of Sex had plenty of people clutching their pearls and nearly fainting out of protest. Needless to say it was provocative.
Hitting the stands just as the musician dropped her Erotica album in 1992, Sex featured photography from Steven Meisel and Fabien Baron that depicted, among many things, a naked Madonna dressed as her dominatrix alter-ego Dita. The book was daring with its inclusion of kink, and especially queerness at a critical time in LGBTIQA+ history. Naomi Campbell had a cameo, as did Madonna's then-boyfriend Vanilla Ice, and it was shot across various locations including a motorway in Miami and the fabled Chelsea Hotel. Basically, you know it was good because the Vatican deemed it "morally intolerable".
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Anyway, the point of all of this is that Sex is celebrating its 30th anniversary – although you would know that if you follow Madonna on Twitter. To mark the occasion, Anthony Vaccarello has announced that it's time the book was reissued, with a new edition to be published by Callaway after it had been out of print for years. Not only that, but Saint Laurent is holding an exhibition at Art Basel, Miami curated by Madonna and Anthony Vaccarello in honour of the milestone between November 29 and December 4.
The exhibition will include large format prints of Meisel's from the book. Meanwhile only 800 copies of Sex have been made, with a limited number signed by Madonna herself, with the intention that they will be auctioned off to raise money for her Raising Malawi charity. If you miss out on the latest edition of Sex, t-shirts and tote bags from the exhibition will also be on sale.
Image: pauladaunt.com
