Lady Gaga's Art World Liaisons: From Vezzoli to Sterbak

Lady Gaga, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta in 1986, has strategically positioned herself as a pop icon by appropriating contemporary art aesthetics. Her performance with Francesco Vezzoli at the MoCA Los Angeles 30th anniversary on November 14, 2009, featured a waltz with Bolshoi Ballet dancers, a pink piano with blue butterflies, and costumes by Miuccia Prada, with a futuristic hat by Frank Gehry. The trailer was directed by Jonas Akerlund. In 2010, she wore a meat dress to the MTV Video Music Awards, citing Jana Sterbak's 1991 work "Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic" shown at the National Gallery of Canada. At the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011, she arrived in a cocoon-like litter resembling Mariko Mori's "Wave UFO" from the 2005 Venice Biennale. She collaborated with Terence Koh in a Tokyo club, appearing in his video "88 Pearls" wearing a costume inspired by his sculpture. She declined Spencer Tunick's invitation to a nude installation at the Sydney Opera House. Her facial prosthetics have drawn comparisons to Orlan's surgical modifications. Gaga has served as Polaroid's creative director and became an art and fashion columnist for V Magazine. Her "Born This Way" video, released ahead of the May 23 album, features a dark-freak cosmogony blending posthuman visions.