INTIMATE + PASSIONATE PHOTOGRAPHY
Nan Goldin At The Grand Palais
At its heart, film is photography functioning at frames-per-second. Contemporary photographer Nan Goldin brings this sensibility to her first retrospective in France, which she presents as “films made up of stills.” The show This Will Not End Well, on view now at The Grand Palais in Paris, speaks to Goldin’s deepest personal memories of love and pain.
Nan Goldin. Sandra in the mirror, New York City (1985) from The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, 1973-86. Part of This Will Not End Well. Courtesy of Nan Goldin
To visit this type of revealing exhibition feels like going on a first date with a stranger who dives all the way into the thick of our hearts before we’ve even decided on a plan for the day: she’s begun to explore the alignment of your childhoods before the first five minutes of the date are up. The heartache and trauma of loss. The orgasmic bliss of a drug trip, clawed down by ache of withdrawals. Mythology. Forbidden passion. Suicide. Every card is spread out on the table face-up. And that’s exactly the kind of intimacy we crave.
Nan Goldin. Greer and Robert on the bed, New York City (1982) from The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, 1973-86. Part of This Will Not End Well. Courtesy of Nan Goldin
This Will Not End Well gathers a formidable accumulation of images, including six works crafted over fifty years of Goldin’s career. The Balland of Sexual Dependency (1981-2022); The Other Side (1992-2021); Sisters, Saints, Sibyls (2004-2022); Memory Lost (2019-2021); Sirens (2019-2020); and Stendhal Syndrome (2024). According to the Grand Palais, the exhibition is housed in site-specific buildings conceptualized by architect Hala Wardé, with each structure crafted in harmony with the work it houses. The village created by all six structures takes the show from being a metaphorical journey through Goldin’s psyche to a highly literal walk in her shoes.
Nan Goldin. Cookie at Tin Pan Alley, New York City (1983) from The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, 1973-86. Part of This Will Not End Well. Courtesy of Nan Goldin
Goldin’s post-punk aesthetic and intimate understanding of queer community remind us of moments in history that the present zeitgeist occasionally overpowers––the glimmers of triumph in a long, slow war against people who live their truth out loud among basic, clean-cut bullshit.
Nan Goldin. French Chris on the convertible, New York City (1979) from The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, 1997-86. Courtesy of Nan Goldin
She has a natural eye for the intimate moments that set a great photographer and videographer apart from the hobbyists; the fact that she works in a documentative art, as opposed to paint, clay, or found materials, strengthens her message: Her work brings moments of truth from a time during which photographs were not factually altered as a rule. Every single second, every single frame of her retrospective is deeply and passionately real.
Nan Goldin. Bruce on top of Chris, Fire Island, N.Y. (1979) from The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, 1973-86. Courtesy of Nan Goldin
Ultimately, one electric undercurrent connects all of Goldin’s works in the show, as well as all of us: the raw, bloodied, unfuckwithable spirit that assures us the only way out, truly, is through.
Nan Goldin. Mark in the red car, Lexington, Mass. (1979) from The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, 1973-86. Courtesy of Nan Goldin
The show remains on view through June 18, 2026. A waiting time is expected for several pieces in the show, and advance booking is recommended. The exhibition is organized by the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, in collaboration with the GrandPalaisRmn, Paris, the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, and the Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan.
