Lorna Simpson is an American artist renowned for her profound impact on contemporary art, particularly in her exploration of the complex interplay between identity, gender, race, and memory. Born in 1960 in Brooklyn, New York, Simpson’s early engagement with the arts led her to the High School of Art and Design, followed by the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and then the University of California, San Diego, where she further honed her conceptual approach to art. Lorna Simpson initially garnered attention in the mid-1980s with her large-scale photograph-and-text works that challenged and deconstructed traditional perceptions of gender, identity, culture, history, and memory. Her pioneering use of the medium, combining stark images with poignant, narrative texts, invites viewers to engage in a deeper dialogue with her subjects, often addressing the African American experience and the societal roles imposed on women. In her evolving practice, Lorna Simpson has adeptly moved between photography, film, video, and drawing, continually pushing the boundaries of her medium to explore new ways of expressing her thematic concerns. A significant aspect of her work is the way it interrogates and complicates the act of looking, playing with the viewer’s expectations and assumptions to highlight the constructed nature of identity and memory. Lorna Simpson‘s contribution to the field of contemporary art has been recognized with numerous awards and accolades, and her works are included in the collections of major museums worldwide, such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Auction record: $300k, Sotheby’s, 2018

Lorna Simpson Editions