Nan Goldin’s Exhibition Opening at Pirelli HangarBicocca: Art, Life, and Community
The opening of This Will Not End Well at Pirelli HangarBicocca marked the launch of Nan Goldin’s first retrospective as a filmmaker. A long-awaited event, it transformed the Navate into a gathering point for the international art world. Alongside the artist, director Vicente Todolí and curators Lucia Aspesi and Roberta Tenconi attended, together with a distinguished roster of guests: Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Massimiliano Gioni, Ralph Rugoff, Guido Costa, Francesca Lavazza, Fredrik Liew, Vincenzo de Bellis, Christoph Wiesner, Patrick Tuttofuoco, Karine Lienhard, Pamela Kramlich and Stephan Crasneanscki of the musical duo Soundwalk Collective, author of the powerful sound installation welcoming visitors.
The exhibition unfolds like a village of pavilions designed by architect Hala Wardé, each constructed around a single work. It is the largest collection of slideshows ever presented: from the legendary The Ballad of Sexual Dependency to The Other Side, an intimate portrait of the trans community; from the dramatic, hallucinatory, and monumental Sisters, Saints, Sibyls, to journeys into the shadows of Memory Lost and Sirens. Additionally, Milan hosts for the first time in Europe two recent works: You Never Did Anything Wrong, an abstract meditation on life and natural cycles, and Stendhal Syndrome, a visual exploration of Ovidian myths intertwined with the faces of the artist’s friends.
Despite the foreboding title, the atmosphere of the evening was anything but gloomy: energy, irony, and a palpable desire to celebrate Goldin and her radical vision filled the space. More than a debut, it felt like a grand gathering—a recognition of an artist who has literally rewritten the terms of contemporary photography. Not just an opening, but a true statement: Milan reasserts itself as a capital of art capable of transforming the museum into a shared experience.
Text: Germano D’Acquisto
Photo: Ludovica Arcero
Exhibition Views: Nan Goldin This Will Not End Well – View of the exhibition, Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, 2025 © Nan Goldin – Courtesy the artist, Gagosian, and Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan. Photo: Agostino Osio
