Ever dream of owning a Nan Goldin museum quality print signed by Goldin herself? Now, you can, as the activist/artist is taking part in a five-day sale organized by Magnum Photos, the international photography co-op, in partnership with the non-profit Aperture Foundation. Called the square print sale, it launches today (October 29) with each of the prints measure six inches square and priced at $100.
Goldin is donating the proceeds from the sale of signed prints of Drug on the Rug (2016) to her activist group. P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now), which she founded earlier this year. The guerilla activists have been campaigning against the makers of opioid drugs as well as Sackler family members who have benefited from its profits. It has targeted institutions in the US, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, that have received the Sacklers’ support.
Other artists taking part in in this fall’s Magnum square-print sale include Martin Parr, Catherine Opie, Stephen Shore, and Bruce Davidson. It features classic images by some of Magnum’s greats, including Robert Capa and Renni Burri, which are stamped by the artist’s estate. Perhaps the most eye-catching name on the list is the Berlin-based, US artist Goldin and her politically-motivated sale.
“I was addicted to OxyContin for four years. I overdosed but I came back. I decided to make the personal political,” says Goldin in a statement. “I’ve started a group called P.A.I.N. to address the opioid crisis. We are a group of artists, activists and addicts that believe in direct action. We target the Sackler family, who manufactured and pushed OxyContin, through the museums and universities that carry their name. We speak for the 250,000 bodies that no longer can.”
After their successful first-time partnership last year with “Journeys”, this year’s square-print sale has taken “Crossings” as its theme. Spanning physical crossings, like borders and oceans, the sale also encompasses more psychic understandings of the term, such as Goldin’s battle with opioid addiction. Each of the artists included have either been selected from Magnum’s own roster of photographer members or have been published by the non-profit Aperture.
Though the organization won’t reveal the number of prints sold in their sale last year, Anne Bourgeois-Vignon, global digital director at Magnum Photos confirms that the 2017 edition was a commercial success. “Collaborating, rather than competing, means that we can create meaningful and interesting dialogues around photography, as well as share our expertise in developing stories online and widen our audiences,” she tells artnet News.
Goldin is not the only artist donated profits from the sale to a good cause. Photographer and professional skateboarder Ed Templeton is also donating profits from the sale to Skateistan, a non-profit organization that runs youth empowerment programs in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa; Brazilian artist Vik Muniz’s profits will go to his non-profit school project in Brazil, Escola Vidigal.
‘Crossings’ Magnum’s Square Print Sale in Partnership with Aperture runs from 9AM (EST) on Monday October 29 until midnight on Friday November 2. Signed and estate stamped, museum quality, 6×6” prints from over 100 artists will be available for $100, for 5 days only, from shop.magnumphotos.com.