NAN GOLDIN

BASEL, November 17, 2023—Gagosian is pleased to announce an exhibition at the gallery in Baselfeaturing Nan Goldin’s video Sirens (2019–20) and large-scale photographs.

Sirens, the first work by Goldin made exclusively from found video footage, is accompanied by ahaunting score by Mica Levi. Echoing the call of the Sirens from Greek mythology, who lured sailorsto their untimely deaths on rocky shores, this entrancing work visually and acoustically suggests theeuphoric experience of being high.

The nine color photographs on view in Basel alongside Sirens were taken between 1979 and 2021.In the first room are photographs that pay homage to the sensuality of the female body. Theseintimate depictions allow the viewer to observe the works’ subjects without the women gazing back,questioning whether we can experience any subject without an element of confrontation. Thora atthe Vanity (2021), from Goldin’s most recent series of portraits of her beloved friend, incorporates thechiaroscuro of Renaissance paintings. C on the wall, Bangkok (1992), one of many shots derived fromGoldin’s expansion of her circle of transgender friends to Southeast Asia, captures its subject in a raw,revealing image of the person behind the performance.

In the back room, Goldin has selected a group of works concerned with mortality and the spiritual.Holy Sheep, Rathmullen, Ireland (2002) evokes images from Catholic iconography, a passion of hersfor decades. Doves in the Light, Dordogne, France (2005) likewise explores the representation of thespiritual through animal subjects. ‘I prefer animals to human beings at this stage in my life,’ Goldinhas remarked. The artist’s interest in photographing the sky in the last years is reflected in Full Moonover Bois de Vincennes, Paris (2004), while Charlotte and Marie-Anne watching sunset, Christmas Eve,Sète, France (2003) captures a mother and daughter in a tender embrace.

The exhibition coincides with This Will Not End Well, a retrospective at the Stedelijk MuseumAmsterdam, focused on Goldin’s moving-image work. This Will Not End Well displays slideshows andvideo installations in pavilions designed in collaboration with architect Hala Wardé. Recently debutedat Moderna Museet, Stockholm, the exhibition will travel to the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; PirelliHangarBicocca, Milan; and Grand Palais, Paris, over the next two years.