Madonna “SEX” Archive
[New York]: np, [1991-1992]. Handwritten production notes, thirteen (13) sheets. Twenty three (23) black-and-white and color photographs. Photocopies of eight (8) additional photographs. Model release form. Budget. Eleven (13) business cards and promotional handbills.. Six (6) items of correspondence. Three (3) press clippings. Item-level inventory available upon request. Item #6045
Small archive containing pre-production and production materials related to Madonna’s SEX book, including photographs of exotic dancers and promotional materials for luxury hotel suites, seedy SRO hotel rooms, gymnasiums, locker rooms, and sex clubs; contracts; correspondence; location notes and individual salaries; and related ephemera - all gathered by a Manhattan location and talent scout who worked on the project.
Madonna’s 1992 coffee table book SEX included photographs shot in New York City and Miami, in hotels, burlesque theaters, locker rooms, and city streets. A bold sex-positive feminist statement, the book drew from the punk and BDSM aesthethics, along with early fashion iconoclasts like Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton. The book was edited by Glenn O’Brien and featured photography by Steven Meisel and Fabien Baron. Models for the book included Naomi Campbell, Vanilla Ice, Isabella Rossellini, and adult film star Joey Stefano. SEX also included shots of uncredited go-go dancers, and of course photos of Madonna herself. The book’s design is bold and memorable - an aluminum cover and spiral binding, housed in a reflective Mylar bag.
This small archive contains pre-production and production materials related to Madonna’s SEX, gathered by a Manhattan location and talent scout who worked on the project. Included are original Polaroid photographs of burlesque dancers from the Gaiety Theatre used in the final draft of the book, as well as black and white photographs of male strippers and go-go dancers. In addition to the photography, the archive includes contact information and notes for the dancers, performers, and New York locations utilized in the book including Harlem Ball legend Dorian Corey and costume designer David Dalrymple, location scouting correspondence, handbills and business cards for luxury hotels and underground sex clubs, model release forms and budgeting paperwork, press mentions, and more.
A working archive documenting the creative process behind the influential erotic work by pop superstar Madonna.
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