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Kanye took Vincent Desiderio's "Sleep" & brought it to life with a modern twist.. if that isn't genius idk what is. pic.twitter.com/bSDddfQFNo — rey (@reyablo) June 25, 2016

Over the weekend, Kanye West released the NSFW video for "Famous," featuring the likenesses of Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Anna Wintour, Donald Trump, and Ray J, among others, sprawled naked across a bed. The video was visually inspired by a painting called Sleep, by realist artist Vincent Desiderio, who debuted his piece at New York's Marlborough Gallery in 2004, although the work was not completed until 2008. Cosmopolitan.com spoke to Desiderio, a visiting critic at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, about the video. (He's in the midst of writing about it, too, so you can expect more of his insights then.)

"It's an extraordinary and bold and different move for Kanye West," he said by phone, "and what I would say is that it is the clearest indication of his overall intentions as a person utilizing the media and working within it. I was absolutely floored and incredibly flattered and incredibly happy to see the video, which I think is really beautiful."

Although he didn't go into detail about their collaboration (yet), he did say of working with Kanye, "I think he and I are on the same page and he knows that, I know that. We both acknowledge that we are one brain, two bodies. He's quite a remarkable man, not withstanding all the nonsense that accompanies a man strapped to a rocket, who sometimes is either misquoted or is compelled into a position that can frustrate someone."

He also agrees with Kanye's comparison of himself to Andy Warhol. "Think of how Andy Warhol was intentionally misconstrued because he put himself out there to be misconstrued," Desiderio said. "Think about how his whole life was a performance piece and then you understand why Kanye at one point said, 'I'm Andy Warhol.' The way we're thinking about Kanye West and the way he's portrayed, there's an orchestration to it, but social media is so large right now that it spins wildly out of control. Fundamentally, he's an artist and I have total respect for him."

That said, he was only "somewhat" a fan of Kanye's music before working with him. "I listen to different kinds of music. I love rap, but I listen to different kinds of music." His kids, however, are huge fans. "I've risen to Yeezy status among them," he says. "So that makes them listen to me when I tell them to make their bed and stuff."

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