[pacific breeze]

Originally Posted by twitchy

Yes, there are people who knew that Nan Goldin exists and BEFORE this thread. Her work has not stayed out of the spotlight as much as people in general have stayed out of art galleries. No, it is not like Whistler's Mother. They are totally different and I think it a mistake to try to compare the two. It is also a mistake to limit the definition of art to beauty or to portraits, landscapes and still lifes. If you have ever seen a show of Goldin's work (and I take it you haven't), you'd see that it tends not to be about the individual pictures. It is about the collection as a whole. It is, in essence, a type of abstract autobiographical documentary presented in a series of still images. She documents her life and the lives of those around her. The picture belongs in the context of the collection. Elton John bought the entire series from the Thanksgiving show and not just this one shot.

I was lucky enough to see I'll Be Your Mirror about ten years ago. Yes there is nudity, sex, drug use and death. It documents life and life isn't all pretty pictures of kittens, cute as they are. You can take any one picture out of that exhibit and say, "Oooooh! I don't like that one!" but when you look at the entire retrospective, you see people living with the ups and downs, the sheer joy of being alive and then see what AIDS did to this group of friends. See people wasting away or going to funerals yet in the midst of that, there are small joys and glimpses of hope. Deeply moving.

You may not know Goldin's name, but you have seen the impact of her work even though you may not realize it. Her photographs of drug users were well known enough that the fashion industry decided that this would make an attention getting look and "heroin chic" was born. There were people at the time accusing Goldin of promoting the look though she denied it and her work clearly does not glamourise drug use. Kate Moss owes her entire fucking career to Nan Goldin.

Great post in so many ways.