When I was asked to meet Vivienne Dick and Nan Goldin for GCN, it took a minute to agree. They’re like these legendary rockstars who’ve been part of a time in New York that I’ve obsessed over since my first visit there. The art, the fashion, the music, the city, the blackout, the freedom, the parties… Would you be able, like? No. But I said I’d try.
I first met Vivienne a few years ago. Up until then I’d only known her at a distance from the Irish art scene, that she was this underground hero; an avant-garde film making genius. Born in Killybegs, Donegal she felt there was nothing for her in Ireland and moved to New York in the ’70s. She began making Super 8 films during this time, and became a key figure in the ‘No Wave’ scene. It is here that she also met the legendary photographer Nan Goldin. The artists often feature in each other’s work. ‘Vivienne in the green dress, NYC’ is an iconic photo from Goldin’s most well-known work The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, a slide show of over 700 images set to a soundtrack which documents the artist’s intimate personal life.