Feminist to Know: Lorna Simpson
Lorna Simpson is a world-renowned conceptual photographer and multimedia artist whose work is shown in the most prestigious and largest modern art institutions around the world. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Simpson went on to receive a BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, New York as well as an MFA from the University of California, San Diego.
Simpson first rose to prominence in the mid 1980s for her large-scale photo-text pieces. Her conceptual work discredits hegemonic narratives of race, gender, class, beauty, and culture. She has explored these themes through the subject of hair, the framework of representation, and the skillful utilization of juxtaposition. Though she is best known for her photography, Simpson also works in film and video as well as painting, drawing, audio, and sculpture.
The conversations sparked in Simpson’s work contribute to a legacy of Black feminist inquiry. Simpson is a conceptual photography pioneer and an uncompromising voice of dissent in the face of the white-washed modern art world.