Invited by Patrice Chéreau to produce work on the theme, “Faces and Bodies,” the American photographer Nan Goldin created her first series in six years by pairing her own photographs with photographs of celebrated paintings and sculptures from the Louvre. The Matthew Marks Gallery in New York is exhibiting the series through December 23.
“Scopophilia” was defined by Freud as, “the love of looking.” It is with love that Nan Golden has worked since the beginning of her career. For this series, Goldin decided to explore one of her favorite themes, mixing images of painting and sculptures from the Louvre—which granted her special, after-hours access—with never-before-seen images of her friends and lovers. Posed or candid, each subject’s posture mirrors one seen in a work from the museum. It’s a photographic style in search of purity. And although she takes inspiration from the brushstrokes of the Renaissance masters, Goldin adheres to her own subjective and personal vision.
Sisters, Saints and Sibyls (2004) also explored the relationship between painting and photography. Since this exhibition at the Chapelle de La Salpêtrière six years ago, Nan Goldin seemed to have abandoned almost all forms of photography, having claimed, somewhat presumptuously, to have turned the medium upside down. It’s a conviction that can be felt throughout her (often controversial) body of work.
There is nevertheless a sensual, intimate dimension to “Scopophilia.” It’s the same kind of intimacy that Goldin, like every photographer with acute sensibility, tries to capture with every exposure, be it for the eternity of an existence or the eternity of an emotion, as she trains her loving look on her entourage. Religious portraits and communion scenes resonate as deeply moving stories. They’re copies, but with the help of a modern tool, Goldin has made them authentic.
Jonas Cuénin
Scopophilia, Nan Goldin
Through December 23, 2011
Matthew Marks Gallery, New York
523 W 24th St New York
NY 10011, États-Unis
(212) 243-0200
