PUSSY POWER

Marilyn Minter has been thoughtfully shocking people for 50 years. Here, the legendary artist shares never-before-published work and weighs in on the importance of defining pleasure on one’s own terms

- Kimberly Drew

When I arrive at Marilyn Minter’s studio in midtown Manhattan for our interview, I’m reeted with an iced coffee and the artist’s favorite chocolate chip cookies. Minter wears a RESIST T-shirt, a d esign c ollaboration with the grassroots political organization Swing Left. “Resist” has become a rallying cry in this political moment; for Minter, a lifelong activist and vocal proponent of reproductive rights, the campaign is just one example of how the multimedia artist uses her practice as activism. (I wore a MY BODY, MY CHOICE shirt from the emerging fashion designer Collina Strada, quietly hoping Minter would think it was cool.) The sartorial choice is a testament to how Minter suffuses every choice she makes with intention — from her outfits to her chic studio layout to the sustainable straw in my compostable coffee cup.

My fascination with Minter’s work began when I was in college, when images from Tom Ford’s fall-winter 2007 collection popped up on my Tumblr dashboard. I knew very little about Ford and even less about whoever had taken the photos, but I was seduced by their grittiness. In one shot, the designer devours a soft pink cake; in another, a model covered in rain — or sweat — purses her lips as she gently caresses her glasses. Unlike more traditional fashion photographers such as Steven Meisel or Annie Leibovitz, Minter produces images that aren’t about the products or the models — they seem to speak directly to the viewer’s instinctual desire.