Agnieszka Kłos

„Beautiful Perverts and the Brave World of Nan Goldin”

The subject of my paper are the artworks of american photographer of Jewish origin, Nan Goldin. I want to present her artistic way and her art at the background of social changes in Europe and in USA. Although Goldin’s pictures are recognizable at the first glance, the number of studies concerning this topic is still insufficient. In my paper I analyze the motifs, heroes, medium and artistic concepts that enabled Nan Goldin to discover the new space for the next (third) sex/gender. Goldin not only created individual visual alphabet, but also – using the shock – forced the public to discover and explore characters from the Other World. The paper on intersections between her life and intense work for sure will enrich the conference’s scope. I entitled my study „Beautiful Perverts and the Brave World of Nan Goldin”, because I analyze the category of “natural” and “cultural” in the man. In Nan Goldin’s art gays, lesbians, drag queens and drag kings, the world of Rubens, Velasquez and Caravaggio are opposed to symbolism of water, air, blood and body liquids. Goldin’s art is the ballad of regaining things rejected by the world, of creating new, postgender family. Nan Goldin, “natural born feminist”, using trash esthetics, being one of my most favorite artists, has also entered the canon of contemporary world art with her exquisite studies on gender(s).