Featuring some images shot in the former room 822 at the Chelsea Hotel SEX makes a reappearance at this year’s Art Basel. Artnet wonders if the world is ready?
"Sealed in a condom-like Mylar sheath, Sex sold over 150,000 copies on the day of its release. The New York Times dubbed it “deliberately degenerate hoopla.” It featured not only Madonna as Dita, but also cameos by fashion titans like Naomi Campbell and Isabella Rossellini, cult figures Udo Kier and Tony Ward, and music-industry guests like Vanilla Ice and Big Daddy Kane (who look fabulous!). Sex was denounced by the Vatican and banned in India and Japan. Amid the global hysteria, what’s often lost is the power of the images themselves.
Sex was firmly ensconced in the Sex = Death era, and the tumult of the times is encapsulated in all of the piercing and seedy dungeon bondage and goings-on—but so is the defiant sexuality. This wasn’t just a hot, sex-positive paean to the singer’s libido, but a political cri de coeur and a reflection of percolating angst. In the foreword, Madonna wrote, “My fantasies take place in a perfect world, a place without AIDS.”
The photo below was taken prior to the demolition. Even though 822 has been demolished, reconfigured and renumbered the beautiful mantel was spared.
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