Lorna Simpson

American, born 1960

Lorna Simpson is a key figure in American contemporary art, known for her innovative use of photography and text in the 1980s. Her works interrogate identity, representation, and the role of the viewer in shaping meaning.

Simpson has often photographed African American women with obscured or ambiguous identities, paired with text to explore themes of race, gender, and power. In Guarded Conditions (1989), she used photographs of women in stark, anonymous settings to evoke ideas of surveillance and control. Her Large Black Series (1989) features minimal portraits and paired text that challenge stereotypical representations of Black identity.

Simpson’s work developed alongside the Black Arts Movement, which sought to redefine Black representation in art. Her photographs critically engage the complexities of these representations, offering a nuanced examination of identity and visual culture. In subsequent decades, she expanded her practice to include video, collage, and large-scale installations, continuing to explore themes of identity and the body.

Explore Selected Works

Lorna Simpson, Graphicstudio, Two Pairs, 1997, photogravure on handmade Richard de Bas paper, Gift of Graphicstudio/University of South Florida and the Artist, 1998.87.17

Two Pairs

Lorna Simpson, Graphicstudio · 1997 · photogravure on handmade Richard de Bas paper ·  Accession ID  1998.87.17

Lorna Simpson, Shoe Lover, 1992, 3 dye diffusion transfer prints (Polacolor) and 2 plastic plaques, Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon, 2019.170.1.a-e

Shoe Lover

Lorna Simpson · 1992 · 3 dye diffusion transfer prints (Polacolor) and 2 plastic plaques ·  Accession ID  2019.170.1.a-e

Lorna Simpson, Coiffure, 1991, 3 gelatin silver prints and 10 engraved plastic plaques, Corcoran Collection (Gift of the Women's Committee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art), 2015.19.4459

Coiffure

Lorna Simpson · 1991 · 3 gelatin silver prints and 10 engraved plastic plaques ·  Accession ID  2015.19.4459

Ten black, horizontal, rectangular panels are hung evenly spaced in a vertical stack above a larger red rectangle, and those eleven pieces are flanked by two identical, round, black and white photographs that are almost as tall as the stacked panels. Each of the ten black panels bear a single word in lowercase, white letters. From top to bottom, they read, “ring,” “surround,” “lasso,” “noose,” “eye,” “areola,” “halo,” “cuffs,” “collar,” and “loop.” The red panel is inscribed, also with white, lowercase letters, “feel the ground sliding from under you.” Each of the two round photographs is framed with a narrow black band and shows the full lips, narrow chin, collarbone, and chest of a Black person. The person wears a white scooped neck top that creates a crescent moon shape at the bottom of the image.
Lorna Simpson, Untitled (2 Necklines), 1989, 2 gelatin silver prints and 11 engraved plaques, Gift of the Collectors Committee, 2005.44.1.a-c

Untitled (2 Necklines)

Lorna Simpson · 1989 · 2 gelatin silver prints and 11 engraved plaques ·  Accession ID  2005.44.1.a-c