madison moore in conversation with billy porter, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, June 2019
madison moore is a cultural critic, dj and assistant professor of queer studies at virginia commonwealth university in richmond, virginia. trained in performance studies, their research, teaching and critical creative practice converges at the intersections of black queer aesthetics, fashion, queer nightlife, popular music, contemporary art theory and visual culture. raised in ferguson, missouri, he holds a ph.d. in american studies from yale university and has been profiled by the face (UK), the new york times and the new york observer. in june 2019, madison was in conversation with billy porter, star of the FX series pose at the metropolitan museum of art as part of the costume institute’s blockbuster exhibition camp: notes on fashion.
madison is the author of fabulous: the rise of the beautiful eccentric, published by yale university press in april 2018. here, fabulousness is positioned as a vibrant aesthetic practice and the book takes the reader on a journey through vogue balls, instagram, nightclubs and street fashion, weaving together autobiography and cultural analysis. when it’s all said and done, fabulous is a work of pop queer theory about how marginalized people turn pain and struggle into opulence.
“Fabulous lives up to its title. Who knew there was such riveting social drama behind those velvet ropes? ”
“Fabulous does not simply track new club worlds, it takes us to them. The book does not just tell us about fashion and clubs, it is immersed in the scenes it conjures. This is engaging, relevant, and glamorous.”
before joining the department of gender, sexuality and women’s studies at virginia commonwealth university in august 2018, from 2014-2018 madison was a european research council (ERC) postdoctoral research associate in the department of english at king's college london, where he was also the director of the queer@king's research centre.
in 2017, with berlin-based cultural producer an.do and london-based art director jelly luise, madison launched OPULENCE, a multi-dimensional culture project that centers pleasure, queer nightlife, aesthetics, techno and experimental music, with an emphasis on DJs of color and of queer and trans experience. in just under a year, OPULENCE gained a reputation in london for its forward-thinking music in a party space that centers queer people and femmes. in november 2018, OPULENCE was featured in a short boiler room film about the value and importance queer nightlife.
as a DJ, madison has a passion for bass, cinematic soundscapes and the romantic, emotive power of dark techno, with flourishes of sassy, uplifting brilliance — or, better put, a style that is severe and sickening. he has worked dance floors in london, sydney, berlin, new york, amsterdam, and the woods of pennsylvania, and aims to bring his sound to even more clubs, raves and underground dance parties once its safe to do so again. madison is currently at work on a new book project on rave scenes and queer of color undergrounds.
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