«MASS ART IS HIGH ART»

In 1971, David Bowie, one of Gaga's idols, said, "I don't want to climb out of my fantasies in order to go up onstage -- I want to take them on stage with me." Bowie pioneered the idea of rock as theater, incorporating influences like mime and Kabuki into an act that stressed the dreamlike quality of his work. But he still made a distinction between that dream life and his real one. A decade later, genre-crushing New Wave art star Grace Jones reiterated the split. With her signature Flat Top hairstyle and elaborate outfits designed by artists like Jean-Paul Goude and Keith Haring, the statuesque Jones was possibly the most high-concept pop diva ever. But she could step out of her role. "Listen, I'm two people," she told an interviewer in 1980. "Otherwise, I'd be insane!"

L.A Times
July 12 2009