You know what stood out for me in this article from  Le Monde France – “A mystery object that contains the series “Robert Pattinson” edited by Dior, in limited edition and that will be sold in Art places in late November.”  [Does she mean Amazon??  See previous post here]

“A body floating in the turquoise water of a pool, the face of a young man whose features are still teenagers. A raw, intimate light that stirs the sensuality of the flesh. It is Nan Goldin. And if it was not for the exceptional celebrity of the model, nothing in this picture – or in the other pictures that composed the series from which it is extracted – would not denote with the previous work of the American photographer. However, Robert Pattinson, the model we are talking about, is not really part of the elective family of Nan Goldin.

Neither clueless nor underground, the hero of Twilight had never met the artist before this project orchestrated by Dior, of which he is the new face for the Dior Homme fragrance. And without doubt, the photographer, supporter of Antonioni’s films and Fassbinder, had never heard of him. But the alchemy worked: “I haven’t seen his vampire movies, because it’s not my style, says Nan Goldin with her hoarse timbre. What interests me about him is his person. Robert is a lovely boy, so sweet, he loves playing guitar. Music is his natural element, probably more than cinema.” With this series, the photographer wanted to show the grace of a young man.” One of the starting points was the portrait of the artist painter Paul Cadmus by Luigi Lucioni [1928] exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum. Same brown hair, same blue eyes, Robert has something of this boy.” (Photo below) Hundreds of fans were waiting around places of the shooting in New York, the photographer didn’t remember this: “I didn’t see anyone, but I think I heard about it .”

“WHAT SHE GIVES TO SEE ABOUT ROBERT PATTINSON is not his bulky celebrity – he spent most of his life trying to hide – nor his glamor image of the hero of a people culture of which he is totally foreign. Nan Goldin took in the actor what she has always highlighted in his models: the youth, the sexual body and the expression of an individual destiny.

“For the first time, I looked back, I looked back into my archives, which is something I never do because I don’t want to repeat myself, or plagiarize myself. And I found in The Ballad of Sexual Dependency [her most famous work, a slideshow of 800 photos between autobiography and documentary, shown for the first time in 1987 at the Rencontres d’Arles] an image that I wanted to draw my inspiration from: French Chris on the Convertible [1979] (Photo above). I wanted to find the same virginity, this same grace.” So, for this command, Nan Goldin – whose last exhibition scopophilia, was in 2011 – is back to work. “As did Diane Arbus before me – be careful, don’t say that I compare myself to her – I would like to make a book of my fashion photos, these images have long been despised by museums.” In her London studio, the artist completes a box. A mystery object that contains the serie “Robert Pattinson” edited by Dior, in limited edition and that will be sold in Art places in late November. “I’m glad about this project, says Nan Goldin in a wearily way. So many things have happened since this morning. It is 07:00 PM and I still didn’t had my breakfast …

Thanks Pattinson ArtWork