June 17, 2020
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Few works have impacted the world of photography like Nan Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency. Published by Aperture in 1986, The Ballad retains an uncommon power with its unflinching portrayal of friends, lovers, and relationships—a dramatic opera of joy and despair. This summer, Aperture magazine returns to an iconic work with “Ballads,” a special issue featuring an exclusive interview with Goldin, as well as a section curated by the artist and dedicated to her influences.
In the issue:
Words
“The Ballad of Nan Goldin”
The legendary photographer reflects on art, addiction, and activism
A conversation with Darryl Pinckney
“The Original Ballad”
The making of a groundbreaking photobook
Marvin Heiferman in conversation with Elle Pérez
“Speeding Along the Edge”
Jack Pierson, Mark Morrisroe, and the search for a queer utopia
by Evan Moffitt
“The Evocative Years”
Libuše Jarcovjáková’s vivid chronicle of Prague’s subcultures
by Alistair O’Neill
“A Fold in Time”
David Wojnarowicz and the radical archives of the Fales Library
by Olivia Laing
“Out of Sheer Rage”
How can art and film become forms of protest?
by Lauren O’Neill-Butler
“A World Without Men”
The Japanese photographers who dared to be “girly”
by Moeko Fujii
“Film Studies”
Nan Goldin’s imprint on cinema and television
by Rebecca Bengal
“Surface Tension”
In fashion images, a quest for the truth
by Lou Stoppard
Pictures
“Feast for My Eyes”
A pantheon of influences by Nan Goldin
“Pablo Bartholomew”
Introduction by Skye Arundhati Thomas
“Sunny Suits”
Introduction by Jesse Dorris
“Daragh Soden”
Introduction by Colin Barrett
“Liz Johnson Artur”
Introduction by Kareem Reid
“Abdul Kircher”
Introduction by Lovia Gyarkye
“Clifford Prince King”
Introduction by Marjon Carlos
“223”
Introduction by Xuan Juliana Wang
Plus—Brian Wallis on Leonard Freed and the New York police, Nicole Acheampong on Ming Smith as a beauty model, and Eva Díaz on women’s hands and the labor of editing
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Aperture: The Magazine of Photography and Ideas
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Significant support for Aperture magazine is provided by The Kanakia Foundation. Further generous support is provided, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and by Selina Chelsea.
