Lorna Simpson

(American, born 1960)

Lorna Simpson is an American artist best known for her black-and-white photographs and works on paper—both of which explore the interplay between historical memory, culture, and identity. Often associated with postcolonial and feminist critique, Simpson’s work seeks to explicate the ways in which race and gender shape human interactions, specifically in the United States, through the medium of portraiture. “I do not feel as though issues of identity are exhaustible,” the artist has said. “I feel that my critique of identity, which in the past work may be the most obvious, becomes the foreground or recedes given the structures of the text or the type of narrative that I impose on the work.” In her most famous work Stereo Styles (1988), she explores the way in which identity is externally projected, displaying 10 images of an African American woman in different hairstyles alongside text that reads “Sweet,” “Ageless,” and “Magnetic.” Born in 1960 in Brooklyn, NY, Simpson studied photography at School of Visual Arts in New York and received an MFA from the University of California at San Diego, where she studied under Allan Kaprow and Eleanor Antin. In 1986, she received critical attention for her photographic series Twenty Questions (A Sampler), which evaluated the importance of image in contemporary society. In 2007, she was the subject of the retrospective titled “Lorna Simpson” at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and she first exhibited paintings in 2015. Simpson lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She was married to fellow artist James Casebere from 2007 to 2018. Today, her works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Miami Art Museum, among others.

Lorna Simpson News

On View

A New Survey of Black Portraiture Rewrites the Art Historical Canon

by Jo Lawson-Tancred
A New Survey of Black Portraiture Rewrites the Art Historical Canon
Art Collectors

L.A. Collector Eileen Harris Norton on a Lifetime Spent Championing Artists of Color

by Lee Carter
L.A. Collector Eileen Harris Norton on a Lifetime Spent Championing Artists of Color
Museums & Institutions

What Goes on Behind the Scenes at a Guggenheim Show? These Eye-Opening Polaroids Photos Offer a Rare Peek

by Min Chen
What Goes on Behind the Scenes at a Guggenheim Show? These Eye-Opening Polaroids Photos Offer a Rare Peek

Lorna Simpson Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Lorna Simpson (245 results)
Jet Spared, 2017

Lorna Simpson

Jet Spared, 2017

Sale Date: September 22, 2022

Auction Closed

III (WISHES), 1994

Lorna Simpson

III (WISHES), 1994

Sale Date: September 25, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1993

Lorna Simpson

Untitled, 1993

Sale Date: September 11, 2022

Auction Closed

Call Waiting No. 10, 1997, 1997

Lorna Simpson

Call Waiting No. 10, 1997, 1997

Sale Date: April 27, 2022

Auction Closed

Landscape/Body Parts III 1992, 1992

Lorna Simpson

Landscape/Body Parts III 1992, 1992

Sale Date: April 26, 2022

Auction Closed

Double Portrait, 2013

Lorna Simpson

Double Portrait, 2013

Sale Date: March 10, 2022

Auction Closed

Three Part Soul, 2016

Lorna Simpson

Three Part Soul, 2016

Sale Date: March 9, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1995

Lorna Simpson

Untitled, 1995

Sale Date: February 14, 2022

Auction Closed

Two Pairs, 1997

Lorna Simpson

Two Pairs, 1997

Sale Date: February 14, 2022

Auction Closed

i. Actress 2D ii. Barbara 1M iii. Actress 1C , 2007

Lorna Simpson

i. Actress 2D ii. Barbara 1M iii. Actress 1C , 2007

Sale Date: December 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Three Part Soul, 2016

Lorna Simpson

Three Part Soul, 2016

Sale Date: November 18, 2021

Auction Closed

Ultra Blue, 2013

Lorna Simpson

Ultra Blue, 2013

Sale Date: October 14, 2021

Auction Closed

Ebony 8, 2010

Lorna Simpson

Ebony 8, 2010

Sale Date: October 16, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled [What Should Fit Here Is An Oblique , 1993

Lorna Simpson

Untitled [What Should Fit Here Is An Oblique , 1993

Sale Date: October 7, 2021

Auction Closed

Vantage Point, 1991

Lorna Simpson

Vantage Point, 1991

Sale Date: September 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled and Untitled (2 works), 1993–1995

Lorna Simpson

Untitled and Untitled (2 works), 1993–1995

Sale Date: September 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Notations, 2008, 2008

Lorna Simpson

Notations, 2008, 2008

Sale Date: September 9, 2021

Auction Closed

Notations (2008), 2008

Lorna Simpson

Notations (2008), 2008

Sale Date: July 22, 2021

Auction Closed

2 Tracks, 1990

Lorna Simpson

2 Tracks, 1990

Sale Date: July 21, 2021

Auction Closed

Triple Burned, 2014

Lorna Simpson

Triple Burned, 2014

Sale Date: July 21, 2021

Auction Closed

Cliff, 2016

Lorna Simpson

Cliff, 2016

Sale Date: May 22, 2021

Auction Closed

Nervous Conditions, 1992

Lorna Simpson

Nervous Conditions, 1992

Sale Date: May 22, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1996

Lorna Simpson

Untitled, 1996

Sale Date: April 28, 2021

Auction Closed

III, 1994

Lorna Simpson

III, 1994

Sale Date: April 22, 2021

Auction Closed

English (US)

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