"In 1986, the United States was projecting swagger. Markets were booming, the networks broadcast American exceptionalism, and the outward presentation of nationhood was lacquered with optimism. The surface was peak Reagan-era gloss-shoulder pads, flag-waving patriotism and synthesizers-while underneath the country was wrestling with fear, scandal and the slow cracking of old certainties. The official self-portrait was sleek, triumphant and airbrushed, but Nan Goldin and Richard Avedon were looking elsewhere."
"Goldin's The Ballad of Sexual Dependency and Avedon's In the American West, both of which were published as books that year, offered radically different viewpoints on American life. And now these two celebrated works are about to go on show in two separate London exhibitions, as Gagosian marks the 40th anniversary of their publication. At Gagosian Davies Street from January, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency will be shown in its entirety for the first time in the UK as a set of 126 prints."
In 1986 the United States outwardly projected swagger and optimism amid underlying fear, scandal and shifting certainties. Nan Goldin's The Ballad of Sexual Dependency and Richard Avedon's In the American West were published that year, offering contrasting perspectives on American life. Goldin's 126 photographs, created between 1973 and 1986, chronicle downtown New York with diaristic immediacy—lovers, friends, drag queens and addicts navigating desire, violence, tenderness and the shadow of the AIDS crisis. Avedon's series documents working-class America over six years across 17 states, using a large view camera and white backdrop to produce hyper-detailed portraits of coal miners, waitresses and migrant labourers. Both series are being exhibited in London to mark their 40th anniversary.
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