Artist Jeff Koons creating Lady Gaga sculpture

Lady Gaga has commissioned celebrated artist Jeff Koons to create a sculpture of herself for the cover of her upcoming album Artpop.

The Applause hitmaker reveals she and Koons first met in 2010 and they have bonded over their shared appreciation of all things art.

The pop star, who admits she's become an apprentice to the artist, tells Elle magazine, "(I've) asked him... 500 questions and just stared at him while he talked as I scribbled in my notebook, hanging on to his every word. Every time I'm around him, I'm sweating."

Gaga has been spending time at his New York studio, where Koons is working on the new sculpture, and she still can't believe he agreed to work with her.

She quips, "I'm still trying to figure out if we drugged him and mind controlled him into doing this."

Koons is known for his contemporary style and one of his most famous masterpieces is Tulips, a mirror-polished stainless steel sculpture with transparent colour coating, which sold for $33.68 million during an auction at Christie's New York last year (12).

He isn't the only artist Gaga has recruited for Artpop - she previously announced plans to host "an evening of artRave", exhibiting her Haus of Gaga creative team's work, as well as collaborations with Inez + Vinoodh, Robert Wilson and performance artist Marina Abramovic, who recently inspired Jay Z's Picasso Baby video art, to celebrate the November (13) release of her album.