MadonnaTribe: Hi Mem, first of all congratulation for the success of your book. Are you happy with such a positive response? Did you expect it?

Mem Memhet: The book being a success has made all the years hard work so worth it. I am so happy about that.
I always believed the book would be good, but the response and reviews have been amazing.

Lots of major magazines and newspapers really approved of it and I was kept busy with interviews on the radio and even some TV! I couldn't have expected such a great response but I am very glad of it! The book has so far been released in Britain, Ireland, Australia and the USA.

MT: How did you came up with the idea of it and how did you found the right artists?

MM: I have been a Madonna fan for over 20 years.
Of all the books published about Madonna, I knew that there had never been an art book. In my collection of memorabilia over the years I had come across a lot of artwork on Madonna and saved it.
So a few years ago I thought maybe I could make a book out of this and set to work on finding out who the artists were of the artwork I had, and making some sort of contact with them.
Then I asked their permission to reproduce the artwork in the book. 99% of the artists I contacted were so happy to be asked.

MT: How would you describe the book?

MM: I would describe the book as the ultimate tribute to the ultimate entertainer. It is a coffee table art book, very modern. One artist featured in the book claimed it was the most beautiful book she had ever seen!

On top of all this worldwide success, she has constantly pushed buttons for what she believes in. To a certain extent I think Madonna has shaped modern society for women.
She has proved that you can be sexy, beautiful, intelligent, strong and in total control of your career, while still acting up and being controversial, grabbing the headlines with outrageous behaviour.

Usually women in show business can be one thing or the other. For example they can be the "dumb blonde" /sex bomb, or the serious intellectual actress. Madonna has been all these things and more.

I think Madonna has also shown that with hard work and determination anything is possible. She is living proof of the "American Dream".

She seemingly has lived a glamorous life, leading the way in the latest fashions, maintaining the perfect body due to a healthy lifestyle, setting the standards for the latest sounds and groundbreaking videos.

Whatever she comes up with next is always headline news, exciting, different, challen-ging and entertaining.

Madonna is an expert in playing the media game but has the talent to back up her actions. No other icon has had the capacity to stir up so much interest and debate.

That is why she is the most famous woman in the world and why she has inspired so many people over the past two decades, including students, musicians, writers, and of course artists.

MT: Which was your criteria to choose the drawings? Did they have to have some particular elements?

MM: There are so many different artist styles within the book. There are paintings, drawings, graphics, caricatures etc. Some are very beautiful portraits, others quite shocking or funny.

I wanted to capture many various looks and elements to Madonna, as she has displayed during her career. Art can be judged on many different levels, but I hope within Madonna In Art there is something for everyone. During my research I would contact some artists whose work I liked and commission them to paint for the book. We would discuss what particular look I wanted and come up with something original.

MT: As a Madonna fan what do you think of the tour that has just ended, the re-Invention tour?

MM: I loved the re-invention tour. It was a brilliant show. It was so good to see and hear some of the old hits again. I thought Madonna was on great form. There was so much to see, I think you needed to see the show a few times to see everything that was going on.

I only got to see it once, so I'm waiting for the DVD! Also which other 46 year old can do yoga in a corset while singing at the same time!

MT: We know you've been interviewed by the tour documentary crew. How did it go?
What did you talk about? It would be interesting to have a preview of what we will see on screen.

MM: The film crew were great fun. They had heard about the book and we met while Madonna was on the London leg of the tour. I took them to a window display of the book in a store in Soho. We filmed there.
They just wanted me to talk about the book, so that's what I did. It would be a dream come true to end up in the final film, so fingers crossed!

MT: What do you think this documentary will be about?

MM: I have heard that this new documentary will be about Madonna's family life and how things are for her now. Also that there will be contributions from various fans. Obviously because it's Madonna it will be great, interesting viewing.

MT: Do you think is there going to be a "Madonna in Art" volume two?

MM: I would love to do a Madonna In Art volume 2 in the future. That is if people want it enough.