Nan Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency exhibition is a personal narrative of her life, in pictures, which she shares with us. All the events are happening around Boston, New York, London, Chicago, Berlin and more in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. Her subjects and herself are captured in intimate moments of love, lost and abuse. According to her “The diary is my form of control over my life. It allows me to obsessively record every detail. It enables me to remember.” In addition, she received Edward MacDowell Medal for an outstanding contribution to American culture and the arts.

The first part of the exhibition starts with the row of pictures that aren’t lined up, but placed in an organized chaos. It gives you an idea that the pictures will portray a struggle for intimacy and understanding between friends, family, and lovers. Right next to it is a glass display of her personal photos, from her picture and brief biography, her parents, friends and intimate pictures of her lovers. Not only the pictures show you the way American culture was during the 70’s and 80’s, but you get to know the artist on a personal level. She showed the sides of her life that weren’t all “rainbows and butterflies,” she shared her deepest, darkest secrets, such as abuse in a relationship.

The second part of the exhibition was a slide show of people that Nan was close with, that was accompanied by different sound traces. Her subjects were captured in their natural state, such as smoking, half dressed, using drugs or in intimate positions. The sound matched the pictures which made it more real, more raw. You could either feel the intensity of the moment  or try and see why that, particular, sound was chosen. In some way the background music made the pictures look more alive.