Madonna on The New York Times Magazine

JR for The New York Times

The online website of The New York Times published a version of the cover story of the June 9, 2019 issue of their Sunday Magazine with the headline: Madonna at Sixty.

More than an album review, not just an interview, and almost an essai about who Madonna is today, the story is written by Vanessa Grigoriadis, a contributing writer for the magazine and the author of Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power, and Consent on Campus.

Three of the images illustrating the online version of the article are works of art of their own.
Created by French artist JR for The New York Times, they portrait Madonna embracing (literally) some of her former selves in three iconic prints (a 1983 portrait by Kate Simon, a 1986 photograph by Herb Ritts, and a 1991 image by Steven Meisel) in JR’s unique style.

The New York Times’ Director of Photography Kathy Ryan explains how the images came to life on the newspaper’s Instagram profile:

For our cover story about Madonna at 60, the French artist JR photographed the pop icon interacting with famous photos of her younger self. JR printed the images by Herb Ritts, Kate Simon  and Steven Meisel at enormous sizes and Madonna started playing around with them. For the cover, we liked an image of her peering through a slit cut into the eye of an enlarged detail of the portrait by Meisel – it seemed to underscore the savvy ways in which Madonna has built her image over the decades. The silver tone emphasizes the surreal juxtaposition of the current Madonna, in color, peeking through the classic black-and-white portrait of an earlier Madonna.

 

Don’t miss the full story on the online website of  The New York Times and the article in print on June 9, 2019, on Page 30 of the Sunday Magazine.

Styling: Eyob Yoannes.
Hair: Nicola Clark; Isamaya French.
Herb Ritts photograph: Trunk Archive.
Photography: JR for The New York Times

Madonna peering through a 1991 photograph of herself by Steven Meisel. JR for The New York Times.

Madonna with a 1986 photograph of herself by Herb Ritts. JR for The New York Times.

With a 1983 photograph of herself by Kate Simon. JR for The New York Times.