Enter: Lady Gaga's naked era.

Once upon a time, there lived a woman who could sing a stupendous pop song AND liked to play dress-up with various grocery store products. She could craft an outfit out of anything, whether it be flowers, spikes, feathers, lace, sequins, red meat, or even a giant egg. Sure, her costumes may have been revealing, but the look in question was usually too spacey to be, well, racy.

Anyway, by now you must know that we're referring to Lady Gaga, who, after months of hiding away post-hip surgery, is back with an entirely new look, upcoming album (ARTPOP!), and new single ("Applause"). And though Gaga's new Patti Smith-meets-PJ Harvey-meets-Lydia Lunch ensemble is certainly more, how shall we say, minimalist, it's also WAY MORE NAKED. (See: Gaga's all-nude Abramovic Method video and a few choice ARTPOP promo photos.) And now, in Gaga's latest naked adventure, she's letting it all hang out on the cover of V Magazine. Well, actually four different covers for the same issue, but who's counting? Hint: US.

Check out more photos from Lady Gaga's V Magazine cover shoot after the jump.

Snapped in a high-art/high-fashion shoot for V Magazine, Gaga also took some time to chat with the editors (with collaborator Marina Abramovic present, of course) about the origins of ARTPOP:

"I thought about Pop Art and how the dominant subject matter was always the celebrity or the pop culture icon on the canvas, and then I thought to myself, But what I have tried endlessly to become through my work is a celebration of my differences through art, with myself as the canvas, as opposed to me as the subject matter, being put on the canvas. I don’t want to be an icon in just one form. I want to be an icon in many forms. So that's where it began."

(Hey, can I get David Bowie on the line? All I'm hearing is THIS.)

So, after looking at the 2013 VMA performer's V cover, what have we learned? Well, for one thing, we are clearly looking at Gaga's Naked Era (as opposed to her previous outrageous fashion era). I mean, I guess the upside to all this is that Gaga will save tons of time getting ready in the morning (lather, rinse, DONE!). Plus, she'll probably have a muuuuch smaller monthly energy bill. 'Cause let's face it: Keeping those meat dresses refrigerated full-time can-NOT be cheap.

*Shifts uncomfortably in seat* Repeat: This is art. ART!!

Photo credit: V Magazine