Lorna Simpson
Lorna Simpson uses her camera as a catalyst to question a variety of issues including identity, race, gender, class and memory.
Practicing photography since the 1980’s the American born artist has became known for her works that challenge ideas about identity and the representation of the black female body. The theme Simpson turns to is memory, but beyond that subject she mentioned “the underlying thread is my relationship to text and ideas about representation.”
Whether for still or moving picture productions, Simpson is known for pushing the boundaries of the techniques of image making. In particular Simpson’s work on felt, represent a turn away from photography’s traditional paper support. These works allow Simpson to magnify her large photo-text images to create extremely large-scale multi-part works over pieces of felt.
A retrospective of Simpson’s work is presented in her first large-scale exhibition in Europe, displaying over thirty years of image creation. The exhibition provides an opportunity to view not only her still images, but also her video works including her most recent piece, ‘Chess’ (2013), that premiered in Paris.
The Jeu de Paume presents Lorna Simpson’s exhibition which is on display until Sunday 20 October 2013.
