30
May
–
23
June
Tuesday-Sunday 10am-6pm
Tuesday-Sunday 10am-6pm
NAN GOLDIN
NAN GOLDIN
Sisters, Saints, Sibyls
The wrong things are kept secret, and that destroys people. My sister was a victim of all that, but she knew how to fight back. Her rebellion was a starting point for my own. She showed me the way.
—Nan Goldin
Gagosian is pleased to announce Nan Goldin’s Sisters, Saints, Sibyls, the second presentation of Gagosian Open, a series of off-site projects that allows audiences to experience remarkable artworks in unusual contexts.
Goldin begins her film Sisters, Saints, Sibyls (2004–22) with the myth of Saint Barbara, presenting the story of the early Christian martyr as a three-channel projection that echoes the triptych format of classical religious painting. Images of Saint Barbara accompany a voiceover that describes her defiance of her parents’ beliefs, a transgression for which they tortured her. This is analogous to the real subject of Goldin’s film and underpins its visual narrative.
In 1958, Goldin’s elder sister, Barbara Holly Goldin, was sent to a psychiatric detention center at age twelve. She spent time in and out of such facilities for the next six years. Barbara was accused of “acting out, open defiance, sexually provocative behavior, association with undesirable friends, [and being] loud and coarse in speech.” Reports state that she went on dates with an older Black man, appeared to be confused about her sexual identity, and refused to shave her legs. Barbara stirred up a perfect storm of middle-class, midcentury fears around race, sexuality, and gender roles.
Goldin was a witness to the physical and psychic abuse that Barbara suffered and that her family tried to conceal. Barbara’s death by suicide in 1965, at the age of eighteen, was a defining event in Goldin’s life, prompting her to rebel against and run away from her living situation at the time, and the remainder of Sisters, Saints, Sibyls describes how she found her tribe of fellow rebels. She shows us her own experience with addiction, confinement, and self-harm, and that with living comes not only maturity and change, but also loss and pain.
The installation is a visceral, immersive environment, referencing nineteenth-century operating theaters. The piece was originally conceived in 2004, for the chapel of the Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris. Salpêtrière was founded as an asylum in 1656 and was where Jean-Martin Charcot practiced his experiments on “hysteric” women. Goldin’s life’s work has always been about fighting stigma embedded in our society, addressing issues that include mental illness, addiction, and sexuality.
Sisters, Saints, Sibyls will be open extended hours during London Gallery Weekend, on Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1, from 10am to 8pm, and on Sunday, June 2, from 10am to 6pm.
Photo credit: Lucy Dawkins
The wrong things are kept secret, and that destroys people. My sister was a victim of all that, but she knew how to fight back. Her rebellion was a starting point for my own. She showed me the way.
—Nan Goldin
Gagosian is pleased to announce Nan Goldin’s Sisters, Saints, Sibyls, the second presentation of Gagosian Open, a series of off-site projects that allows audiences to experience remarkable artworks in unusual contexts.
Goldin begins her film Sisters, Saints, Sibyls (2004–22) with the myth of Saint Barbara, presenting the story of the early Christian martyr as a three-channel projection that echoes the triptych format of classical religious painting. Images of Saint Barbara accompany a voiceover that describes her defiance of her parents’ beliefs, a transgression for which they tortured her. This is analogous to the real subject of Goldin’s film and underpins its visual narrative.
In 1958, Goldin’s elder sister, Barbara Holly Goldin, was sent to a psychiatric detention center at age twelve. She spent time in and out of such facilities for the next six years. Barbara was accused of “acting out, open defiance, sexually provocative behavior, association with undesirable friends, [and being] loud and coarse in speech.” Reports state that she went on dates with an older Black man, appeared to be confused about her sexual identity, and refused to shave her legs. Barbara stirred up a perfect storm of middle-class, midcentury fears around race, sexuality, and gender roles.
Goldin was a witness to the physical and psychic abuse that Barbara suffered and that her family tried to conceal. Barbara’s death by suicide in 1965, at the age of eighteen, was a defining event in Goldin’s life, prompting her to rebel against and run away from her living situation at the time, and the remainder of Sisters, Saints, Sibyls describes how she found her tribe of fellow rebels. She shows us her own experience with addiction, confinement, and self-harm, and that with living comes not only maturity and change, but also loss and pain.
The installation is a visceral, immersive environment, referencing nineteenth-century operating theaters. The piece was originally conceived in 2004, for the chapel of the Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris. Salpêtrière was founded as an asylum in 1656 and was where Jean-Martin Charcot practiced his experiments on “hysteric” women. Goldin’s life’s work has always been about fighting stigma embedded in our society, addressing issues that include mental illness, addiction, and sexuality.
Sisters, Saints, Sibyls will be open extended hours during London Gallery Weekend, on Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1, from 10am to 8pm, and on Sunday, June 2, from 10am to 6pm.
Photo credit: Lucy Dawkins
