Lorna Simpson
Artist

American, b. 1960, Brooklyn, New York, based in Brooklyn, New York

Re-examining photography as a conceptual medium, Lorna Simpson’s works explore the experience of African American women in contemporary society. Simpson’s imagery is culled from both original photographs and those she collects from eBay and flea markets. In order to make her subjects elusive or adaptable to any narrative, Simpson rarely depicts them from the front, and instead shows them from behind or with their faces and eyes obscured or omitted. Placing an emphasis on the social and political implications of African hairstyles and textures, her 1994 piece Wigs (Portfolio) presents an almost scientific study of hairpieces, aiming to underscore the wig as a tool of conformity and agent for physical transformation. Simpson’s work often presents a fragmented or open-ended story, which the viewer is to complete based on his or her own expectations.

[Artsy]

Lorna Simpson
Artist

American, b. 1960, Brooklyn, New York, based in Brooklyn, New York

Re-examining photography as a conceptual medium, Lorna Simpson’s works explore the experience of African American women in contemporary society. Simpson’s imagery is culled from both original photographs and those she collects from eBay and flea markets. In order to make her subjects elusive or adaptable to any narrative, Simpson rarely depicts them from the front, and instead shows them from behind or with their faces and eyes obscured or omitted. Placing an emphasis on the social and political implications of African hairstyles and textures, her 1994 piece Wigs (Portfolio) presents an almost scientific study of hairpieces, aiming to underscore the wig as a tool of conformity and agent for physical transformation. Simpson’s work often presents a fragmented or open-ended story, which the viewer is to complete based on his or her own expectations.

[Artsy]

  • Jananne Al-Ani / LANDMARKS
    Oct 10 – Nov 11, 2023
    Ab-Anbar Gallery
    London, UK
    Ab-Anbar presents Landmarks, a solo exhibition by London-based Iraqi-born artist Jananne Al-Ani. The exhibition spans more than two decades of photographic and moving image work, focusing on Al-Ani’s longstanding interest in the power of the gaze in response to lens-based technologies, the significance of eye-witness testimony, and the disappearance of the body in highly charged and contested landscapes. (more…)