Art and design
'She's a wild woman, she's a shaman': Nicki Minaj becomes a feminist art muse
Inspired by Minaj’s ‘radical’ video Anaconda – and outraged by the slut-shaming that followed – French artist Camille Henrot is reimagining the rapper in a series of delicate line drawings
![Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e8a3395be9ef0b73000a1c7ac58af2cb906448d4/196_0_1010_532/master/1010.jpg?w=620&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=d02ef1674a814bbc69e286e6d26da426)
Nicki Minaj called Miley Cyrus a bitch at the MTV VMAs last weekend after Cyrus had accused the rapper of being “not very polite”.
Meanwhile, a French artist and rising star called Camille Henrot has just released a series
Meanwhile, a French artist and rising star called Camille Henrot has just released a series
Minaj may seem a shocking muse for delicate drawings that resemble a cross between Matisse (in style) and Kandinsky (in their translation of music to lines on a page). But Henrot has reworked the video Anaconda – which notoriously missed out on a VMA nomination and started a Twitter battle with Taylor Swift – into a piece of social commentary that’s set to go on show at Yarat contemporary art centre.
![Camille Henrot’s artwork My Anaconda Don’t](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/eb55a656e5b965faa77d5cc34f3a1a1d1a9c45c7/0_0_989_766/master/989.jpg?w=620&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=923ba63273a664a906dac60795bcec14)
taken it too far” met accusations of slut-shaming as millions watched her gyrate, greased up and scantily clad, while she decorated her bosom with whipped cream.
Henrot says: “I was struck by how radical and majestic it was. It didn’t seem particularly sexy to me. It seems more like a statement on forgetting stereotypes and embracing yourself. It is vulgar, but it is beautiful.”
![Nicki Minaj in her video for the song Anaconda.](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/9/1/1441109387361/ab2bd21a-3100-473e-a6cb-3c77d4a0a2b8-1020x425.jpeg?w=620&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=d565e9a872e9591c86cd3fa40345b720)
![He Keep Telling Me It's Real by Camille Henrot.](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/9/1/1441109303701/b331096b-6c29-4e25-a67f-e16a9bc021e0-620x444.jpeg?w=620&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=100e38cacf9e73db77dc258e579c142d)
“I love the scene when she is working out in a gym in the jungle,” says Henrot, “and the ridiculousness of it all. I think she is deliberately likening herself to a Barbie, and [referencing] the fastidiousness of being plastic and fake. She’s making herself a caricature of what people want her to be.” So this is a feminist statement? “Yes, of course. Nicki Minaj is a feminist icon.”
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http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/aug/19/madame-tussauds-nicki-minaj-display-waxwork