Halsey unveils album cover art celebrating pregnant, postpartum bodies

Halsey has revealed the release date and album cover of her fourth album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power which she hopes to help in “eradicating the social stigma around bodies and breastfeeding.”

Halsey unveiled on Thursday the cover art through a 13-minute silent video of her walking around the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the video, Halsey is seen pausing in front of framed artworks featuring a woman or mother and a child which includes Guido Reni’s Charity, Duccio di Buoninsegna’s Madonna and Child, and Anthony van Dyck‘s Virgin and Child with Saint Catherine of Alexandria. 

In the end, Halsey became one of the artworks, revealing the album cover. In a framed artwork, Halsey sits on a throne in a periwinkle gown that exposes her breast, wearing a crown, while carrying a child. 

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In a statement on Instagram, Halsey talked more about the album art “It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. The dichotomy of the Madonna and the Whore. The idea that me as a sexual being and my body as a vessel and gift to my child are two concepts that can co-exist peacefully and powerfully.” 

“My body has belonged to the world in many different ways the past few years, and this image is my means of reclaiming my autonomy and establishing my pride and strength as a life force for my human being,” she added.

Last January, Halsey revealed her pregnancy with screenwriter Alev Aydin and her forthcoming album will likely be about her journey these past few months. “This album is a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth,” she wrote.