Scrolling through Twitter today a post stopped me. The artist Marilyn Minter, who I follow, had retweeted,
“I went to Madonna’s house and we had wine and I interviewed her.“
Someone called Roxanne Gay had posted it and she HAD interviewed Madonna for the new Harper’s Bazaar. The new photographs by Luigi & Iango are, as you can see, kind of amazing. It’s MADONNA.
Gay says,
“In the days leading up to our conversation, I kept wondering what I could possibly ask Madonna that she hadn’t already been asked. She has been a figure in popular culture for more than 30 years. There was plenty I was curious about. I mean, I grew up on her music. As a good Catholic girl, I was obsessed with ‘Like a Prayer’ and how she blended transubstantiation and eroticism. I listened to The ‘Immaculate Collection’ nonstop. I coveted her book ‘Sex’, which came out just as I turned 18. I’ve been intrigued by her personal life. I’ve admired her stamina and artistic evolution. But I didn’t want to ask silly questions. I didn’t want to pry even though my job was, of course, to pry…“
Well she asks some good questions and Madge’s response to one leads to a surprising new revelation,
“It’s always exciting for me to perform. I’m liking the idea more and more of just standing up with a microphone and talking. I like talking; I like playing with the audience. That’s what I’ve started to do with Tears of a Clown‘ [Madonna’s most recent stage show, which combines music and storytelling]. I’m obsessed with clowns and what they represent and the idea that clowns are supposed to make you laugh, but inevitably they’re hiding something. That’s how I look at my life. I keep telling Amy Schumer and Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock that I’m going to do stand-up and they’d better watch out. I’m coming. I’m coming right behind them.“
It gets good. For the full interview, go here or get the 150th anniversary collector’s edition of new Harper’s Bazaar on newsstands.
(Photographs by Luigi & Iango; via Harper’s Bazaar)
