Artist Talk: Lorna Simpson

About

Deutsche Börse shortlisted artist Lorna Simpson (b. 1960) speaks about her work. Nominated for her exhibition Lorna Simpson (Retrospective) at Jeu de Paume, Paris (28 May — 1 September 2013). Over the past 30 years, Lorna Simpson has created an extensive body of work incorporating performance, photography, text, film, drawing and collage. Her work engages issues including race, gender and aspects of American identity, and it is through her subtle interplay of text, image and other media that she challenges stereotypes and destabilises assumptions. While drawing attention to important issues such as race, gender and memory, she creates a nonlinear open narrative that eludes any monolithic rhetorical reading of the work. Simpson presents the viewer with clean visuals and clinical backgrounds. While avoiding personal details, the photographs evoke imagery of criminal investigation. Simpson has been included in numerous group exhibitions including Documenta 22 and the 44th Venice Biennale. Solo shows include Lorna Simpson, Cameos and Appearances at the Whitney Museum (2002) and Lorna Simpson at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2010). Her retrospective Lorna Simpson originated at the Jeu de Paume, Paris (2013), and toured to Haus der Kunst, Munich and BALTIC, Newcastle (2014). A monograph of the same title is published by Prestel.