Lorna Simpson (Contemporary Artists (Phaidon))

0.0

Lorna Simpson's well-known fragmented photographs combining with fragments of text create mysterious and quiet works that reflect the silence of a portion of society - African-American women - rarely if ever represented in art. Simpson is credited for being among the first to bring the ideas and forms of much contemporary art to address her specific identity as a black woman. Like Roni Horn she combines the precepts of minimal art - seriality, colourlessness, simplicity, geometric forms - with her personal biography and interests. Like the photographic school of Bernd and Hilla Becher, she adopts a documentary style in "objectively" depicting her subjects - which recalls, moreover, techniques for identifying criminals. Like Cindy Sherman, she assumes a personality for her unusual self-portraiture: in this case, an unadorned, unidentifiable black woman. Yet despite the connections with other major artists of her generation, Simpson's work is unique and unmistakable in its imagery, use of text, and subject matter. Her work in film adds a new dimension, the spoken voice, to the work. Simpson is considered to be one of America's key representatives of black visual culture. A characteristic example of her work is "Guarded Conditions" (1989), a photo-piece in which Simpson assembles fragmented Polaroid images of her body. With her fist clenched behind her back, face turned away from the viewer, Simpson isolates one emblematic gesture and demonstrates a refusal to be "framed" conventionally. The repetition of the words "sex attacks/skin attacks" below the body emphasizes the origin of Simpson's pose: her body is in a state of being "guarded" from the attacks she anticipates as a result of her sexual identity and the colour of her skin. The formal treatment of the image reinforces the sense of attack and protection - the artist's body is severed and serialized, as if ritually segmented, denying the viewer an opportunity to see her whole. Simpson has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including the 1991 Whitney Biennial and the seminal "Decade" show of 1990. Her works are in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Walker Art Center, The Denver Art Museum, City of Chicago Art Collection, The Brooklyn Museum, The Baltimore Museum of Art and the University of New Mexico among other major collections.