It's been awhile since Madonna has shocked the public, and maybe never-before-seen artsy nude photos of the pop icon aren't that surprising. But it is bewildering that the first public viewing of the pics will take place at the Bookery Nook on Tennyson Street in Denver. The images pre-date Madonna's rise to fame in the early 1980s, when the star received $30 to pose nude for a photography class in New York. One of the artist's photos eventually landed in Playboy, but the rest disappeared.

Then one day, Madonna fan Shannon Piserchio bought a rare pic of Madge at Denver's Camera Obscura gallery. A photographer herself, Piserchio was inspired to investigate the image, and undertook the forensic work that eventually led to a forgotten trove of shots taken by Joseph Threadgill, which are said to show Madonna in a more attractive light than the one from Playboy (Fox 31). Starting Wednesday, the Bookery Nook will exclusively host the opening of Madonna: The Forgotten Images, starting at 7 p.m., and the photos will remain on display for the next two months.