Nan GoldinSelf-portrait in blue dress, New York City, 19851975/2020
1975/2020
About the Item
- Creator:Nan Goldin (1953, American)
- Creation Year:1975/2020
- Dimensions:Height: 5 in (12.7 cm)Width: 7 in (17.78 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU932312910012
Nan Goldin
When Nan Goldin discovered a flourishing drag queen community as an 18-year-old navigating downtown Boston, it would mark the start of her widely influential photography career and lay the foundation of the seminal work that would follow years later — “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” an ongoing series of stark, flash-lit snapshots documenting her experiences with the LGBTQ+ scene, most notably during the AIDS epidemic.
Goldin was born in Washington, D.C., but raised in Massachusetts. She left home around age 13 or 14, moved into a commune and attended a free experimental high school called Satya Community School, where she began shooting Polaroids of herself as well as her classmates. She found inspiration in the work of Andy Warhol, Larry Clark, Diane Arbus, Weegee, August Sander and in the glossy pages of French and Italian Vogue. Goldin attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and moved to New York City soon after she graduated.
Goldin was particularly drawn to the avant-garde music scene in Manhattan in the late 1970s and early ’80s, and “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency” would include many photos taken in her newly adopted city. Goldin first exhibited the series at the Whitney Biennial in 1985 before publishing it as a book a year later. In its startling honesty, Goldin’s gripping portraits captured sexual relationships, frank drug use, intimate scenes in the homes of families, partying at bars, domestic violence and the AIDS-related horrors faced by those in the era’s LGBTQ+ community. More than 700 images were featured in exhibitions over the years compared to the book’s 127 portraits.
“‘The Ballad of Sexual Dependency’ is the diary I let people read,” wrote Goldin. “The diary is my form of control over my life. It allows me to obsessively record every detail. It enables me to remember.”
Goldin also felt that the project was autobiographical in a way, though only some of the images were self-portraits. “These were the people I lived with, these were my friends, these were my family, this was myself. I’d photograph people dancing while I was dancing. Or people having sex while I was having sex. Or people drinking while I was drinking. There was no separation between me and what I was photographing,” she told Bomb magazine.
Over the years, Goldin has collaborated with Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki and completed projects for Jimmy Choo and Bottega Veneta. While her work has broadened to include New York City skylines, portraiture and commercial fashion photography, her commitment to documentary-style honesty has never wavered. In 2006, as part of Goldin’s "Chasing a Ghost” exhibit in New York City, a presentation was projected on three screens involving videos, photography and a musical collage focused on her older sister, Barbara, who took her own life in 1965.
Among Goldin’s many accolades are her admission to the French Legion of Honor in 2006, the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in 2007 and the Lucie Award in 2014.
Find a collection of original Nan Goldin photography on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Untitled (Ursine #54F-44)By Jill GreenbergLocated in New York, NYArchival pigment print Signed and numbered on label, verso 20 x 24 inches (Edition of 10) 43 x 50 inches (Edition of 7) This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Since the great success of her monkey portraits...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Untitled (Ursine #2A-2)By Jill GreenbergLocated in New York, NYArchival pigment print Signed and numbered on label, verso 24 x 20 inches (Edition of 10) 50 x 43 inches (Edition of 7) This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York ...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- HorizonBy AdeYLocated in New York, NYThis photograph by AdeY is offered by CLAMP in New York City. Horizon 2016 Signed and numbered, verso Archival pigment print (Edition of 3 + 2 APs) 29.5 x 39.4 inchesCategory
2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- She-Man Part IIBy AdeYLocated in New York, NYThis photograph by AdeY is offered by CLAMP in New York City. She-Man Part II 2017 Signed and numbered, verso Archival pigment print 39.4 x 29.5 inches (Edition of 3 + 2 APs) Con...Category
2010s Contemporary Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Vania (Sentenced for Murder): Men’s PrisonBy Michal ChelbinLocated in New York, NYVania (Sentenced for Murder): Men’s Prison Ukraine 2010 Signed and numbered, verso Archival pigment print (Total edition of 7 + 2 APs) This work is offered by CLAMP in New York City.Category
2010s Contemporary Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Nelson Sullivan, His Home, 5 Ninth Avenue, Meatpacking District, New York CityLocated in New York, NYThis black and white photograph by Paula Gately Tillman is offered by CLAMP in New York City. Nelson Sullivan, His Home, 5 Ninth Avenue, Meatpacking District, New York City 1986/pri...Category
1980s Contemporary Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Markus Klinko - Mariah Carey, Sitting, Photography 2005, Printed AfterBy Markus KlinkoLocated in Greenwich, CT"Markus Klinko is an award-winning, international fashion/celebrity photographer and director, who has worked with many of today's most iconic stars of film, music, and fashion. Kli...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsDigital, Archival Pigment
- Helena Christensen - the supermodel in a black bikini, fine art photography 1993By Michel ComteLocated in Vienna, ATAll prints are limited edition. Available in multiple sizes. High-end framing on request. All prints are done and signed by the artist. The collector receives an additional certific...Category
1990s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- The Doors, "Morrison Hotel" 50th Anniversary, Los Angeles, CA, 1969By Henry DiltzLocated in New York, NYA special limited edition print in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of The Doors iconic record "Morrison Hotel" "This was a transient hotel in Down...Category
Mid-20th Century Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- 'Emergence' Photo collage. Woman, Female, Dancer, Iconography, MonroeBy Sophia MilliganLocated in Penzance, GB'Emergence' Limited edition archival photograph. Unframed, hand signed and numbered ________________________________ From your cocoon my darling, Your wings are emerging: Delicate ...Category
2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsArchival Ink, Archival Paper, Giclée, Archival Pigment
- Elaine's Kitchen - Andy Warhol and Elaine, New York, 1976By Jonathan BeckerLocated in New York, NYElaine's Kitchen - Andy Warhol and Elaine, New York, 1976 X Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 44" x 44.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 9 Certificate of Origin...Category
1970s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Jocelyne Wildenstein at home, New York, 11 January 1998By Jonathan BeckerLocated in New York, NYJocelyne Wildenstein at home, New York, 11 January 1998 It was all animal. The wilder, the better. The décor, the wallpaper, the sculpture and paintings, the trophies, the pets, t...Category
1980s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Lori Grinker’s Artful Photographs of a Young Mike Tyson Are a Knockout!
The New York photographer tells us how an encounter with the then-13-year-old boxer led to a decade-long project that saw them both go pro.
In Marc Yankus’s Photos, New York Landmarks Are Pristinely Devoid of People
A new exhibition at Manhattan's ClampArt gallery shows off the artist's portraits of urban architectural icons.