by: eric volmers
nearly 400 pages into the book empire of pain: the secret history of the sackler dynasty, author patrick radden keefe tells the story of nan goldin.
the renowned photographer became hooked on prescription opioids. her relationship with oxycontin began in 2014 when it was prescribed for tendonitis in her wrist. it didn’t take long before she became addicted.
an activist whose work often had political overtones, goldin became more and more incensed the more she learned about the sacklers, the billionaire family behind oxycontin which was secretive about everything except their philanthropy. so, in 2018, she and fellow protestors walked into the metropolitan museum of art and made their way to the “sackler wing.” as in numerous museums and galleries around the world, the sackler name was front-and-centre at the new york institution, something the family insisted upon in exchange for its generous donations.
goldin and the protestors put up a banner that said “shame of sackler.” they chanted “sacklers lie! thousands die!”
by this point,
bad publicity wasn’t new for the secretive sackler family. but it is certainly a pivotal moment when we see the sackler name being irretrievably dragged through the mud in an institution that had helped lionize them.