Musichead Gallery will present Madonna: The Rise of the Material Girl (1980–1985), a photography exhibition tracing the making of a pop icon through the lens of seven acclaimed photographers.

Featuring work from Deborah Feingold, Gary Heery, Jack Lue, Marc Canter, Mark Weiss, Mick Rock, and Richard Corman, the exhibition takes viewers from Madonna's early downtown New York days to the Like a Virgin tour, with candid behind-the-scenes moments, iconic stage performances, and stunning portraits that reveal the instincts that would define her career.

Opening August 1 and on view through September 26 at the gallery's Sunset Boulevard space, the exhibition arrives as Madonna continues to make headlines with her new album, Confessions II, more than four decades after her debut.

Madonna Louise Ciccone arrived in New York from Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1978 to pursue dance before turning to music. Soon after, she was offered a ready-made pop career in Paris, but rejected the opportunity in favor of creative control and returned to New York. She co-wrote her own songs instead of waiting for someone else to write hits for her. She brought demos straight to New York's club DJs to build an audience before the labels came calling. At the same time, she cultivated her visual identity by surrounding herself with artists, designers, photographers, and dancers, treating fashion as an extension of her artistic expression rather than simply a marketing tool. 

"Madonna's risks have always led to innovations in the music industry," said Sam Milgrom, Curator, Musichead Gallery. "With the release of her new album, Confessions II, we thought it was the perfect time to reflect on the many ways she's changed music, and to look back at the early choices that set those innovations in motion. Her new partnership with Grindr, a first for the industry, is reinventing the way artists connect with their fans. It's the same instinct that's on display throughout this exhibition, an artist willing to take chances."