The Juggler

About the Photographer

Golden, Judith

American, b. 1934 Chicago, IL

Judith Golden studied to be a printmaker and a painter, and she often brings these media to bear in her work as a photographer. In a variety of photographic series she has used hand-coloring, assemblage, superimposed imagery, and other methods to create an atmosphere of fantasy and to imbue her work with symbolism and myth. Golden states, "In my mixed media photographs my intent is to suggest the human connection with sacred, eternal, and spiritual realms." The Juggler (1989-93) is comprised of an elaborate grid of sixteen individually painted photographs. Inspired by the iconography of ancient Tarot cards, Golden draws upon the archetype of the fool in this portrait, while surrounding the juggler figure with various symbols, some of which are familiar and others more unusual.

Golden holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1973) and an MFA from the University of California, Davis (1975). After completing her graduate degree Golden began teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she taught until 1979. During this period she was an early proponent of appopriation strategies, using imagery from mass-media sources as the basis for satirical works dealing with entertainment culture. In 1981 she joined the faculty at the University of Arizona, and while in Tucson she began to explore the more spiritual and mythical themes that have been at the heart of her work ever since. Golden received an honorary PhD from Moore College of Art, Philadelphia in 1990. In 1996 the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona established the Judith Golden Archive, which consists of photographic prints and archival materials spanning her career.