Siobhan with Cat
Date1993
Mediumcibachrome print on paper [Dye-destruction print]
DimensionsImage: 23 1/2 × 15 3/4 inches (59.7 × 40 cm)
Sheet: 20 × 24 inches (50.8 × 61 cm)
Matted: 24 × 30 inches (61 × 76.2 cm)
Portfolio/Series"Printed Matter Photography Portfolio 1. Portraits"
Credit LineGift of Zoë and Joel Dictrow.
Object number2012.12.6
Copyright© Nan Goldin; Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextNan Goldin captured her then partner, the sculptor Siobhan Liddell, in a vulnerable state of slumber. Although best known for her gritty and occasionally unsettling photographs of New York’s underground scenes of the 1970s and early 1980s, Goldin here focused her lens on an everyday subject. A stark morning light illuminates Liddell’s face and emphasizes the peacefulness of this universal yet deeply intimate state of sleep. Using the camera as a diaristic tool, Goldin brings the viewer into the couple’s private world. Speaking of the physical, almost sensual nature of photography, the artist asserts: “For me it is not a detachment to take a picture. It’s a way of touching somebody—it’s a caress.”
Text written for the exhibition 'Complex Uncertainties: Artists in Postwar America' on view October 24, 2020 – May 3, 2021.
