Madonna has come out swinging after being criticised for her nude NFT photo collection portraying motherhood and nature.
The ‘Like a Virgin’ singer collaborated with digital artist Michael Winkelmann, founder of NFT (non-fungible token) Beeple, to bring a series of NFTs that depict Madonna giving birth to many things, including a tree, robot insects and butterflies.
Madge teased the collaboration with Winkelmann via her Instagram; however, not everyone was too happy with the body of work as they thought it was too graphic.
One person wrote: “No pls last time Madonna wanted to show us something during Eurovision 2019 the world f**ked up with covid and war… now again during Eurovision she talks about post apocalyptic world stop now.”
Another person said: "Someone revoke her access to the internet already pls."
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A third person added: "Sorry, but that's one token I don't want to funge."
Madonna panned her critics in a prerecorded chat on her Instagram and said: “I’m doing what women have been doing since the beginning of time, which is giving birth.
"But on a more existential level, I’m giving birth to art & creativity & we would be lost without both.”
The 63-year-old, who called the work a 'post-apocalyptic masterpiece’, also shared that she wanted to draw parallels between womanhood and the life of a tree.
"I say we need a forest with creepy crawly bugs coming out of me," she said. "Not often does a robot centipede crawl out of my vagina."
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She added: "My journey through life as a woman is like that of a tree. Starting with a small seed, always pushing against the resistance of the Earth. The endless weight of gravity."
The singer-songwriter also shared that the work captures ‘the concept of creation, not only the way a child enters the world through a woman's vagina but also the way an artist gives birth to creativity’.
NFT marketplace SuperRare auctioned the three works from the ‘Mother of Creation’ series, which ended over the weekend and garnered over USD $627,000.
The highest price for one of the three NFTs went for 170.5 Eth, which equates to USD$346,405.
Proceeds made from the series will go to three nonprofits, including National Bail Out, V-Day and Voices of Children, which support underprivileged women and children worldwide.
Charisa Bossinakis