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 Artworks

Lorna Simpson (245 results)
Head G, 2008

Lorna Simpson

Head G, 2008

Sale Date: September 19, 2019

Auction Closed

Twosomes, 2013

Lorna Simpson

Twosomes, 2013

Sale Date: June 28, 2019

Auction Closed

Corridor (Night), 2003

Lorna Simpson

Corridor (Night), 2003

Sale Date: May 15, 2019

Auction Closed

SPEECHLESS, 2017

Lorna Simpson

SPEECHLESS, 2017

Sale Date: May 17, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled, from Portraits, 1994

Lorna Simpson

Untitled, from Portraits, 1994

Sale Date: April 23, 2019

Auction Closed

EATING DISORDER, 1989

Lorna Simpson

EATING DISORDER, 1989

Sale Date: April 5, 2019

Auction Closed

Portrait of a Woman, 1982

Lorna Simpson

Portrait of a Woman, 1982

Sale Date: March 17, 2019

Auction Closed

HERE AND NOW, 2018

Lorna Simpson

HERE AND NOW, 2018

Sale Date: December 5, 2018

Auction Closed

WIGS (PORTFOLIO), 1994

Lorna Simpson

WIGS (PORTFOLIO), 1994

Sale Date: March 1, 2019

Auction Closed

The Bed, 1995

Lorna Simpson

The Bed, 1995

Sale Date: February 28, 2019

Auction Closed

LORNA SIMPSON MIXED MEDIA WORK, 1993

Lorna Simpson

LORNA SIMPSON MIXED MEDIA WORK, 1993

Sale Date: November 24, 2018

Auction Closed

Senza titolo (A lie is not a shelter), 1989

Lorna Simpson

Senza titolo (A lie is not a shelter), 1989

Sale Date: October 23, 2018

Auction Closed

TENSE, 1991

Lorna Simpson

TENSE, 1991

Sale Date: September 25, 2018

Auction Closed

Counting, 1991

Lorna Simpson

Counting, 1991

Sale Date: October 4, 2018

Auction Closed

Three Part Soul, 2016

Lorna Simpson

Three Part Soul, 2016

Sale Date: September 21, 2018

Auction Closed

DAY FOR NIGHT, 2018

Lorna Simpson

DAY FOR NIGHT, 2018

Sale Date: May 17, 2018

Auction Closed

CLOUD, 2005

Lorna Simpson

CLOUD, 2005

Sale Date: March 2, 2018

Auction Closed

Ultra Blue, 2013

Lorna Simpson

Ultra Blue, 2013

Sale Date: March 9, 2018

Auction Closed

Corridor (Bulb), 2003

Lorna Simpson

Corridor (Bulb), 2003

Sale Date: March 1, 2018

Auction Closed

CORRIDOR (CHAIR), 2003

Lorna Simpson

CORRIDOR (CHAIR), 2003

Sale Date: November 21, 2017

Auction Closed

Details, 1996

Lorna Simpson

Details, 1996

Sale Date: October 23, 2017

Auction Closed

Counting, 1991

Lorna Simpson

Counting, 1991

Sale Date: October 23, 2017

Auction Closed

C-Ration, 1991

Lorna Simpson

C-Ration, 1991

Sale Date: October 5, 2017

Auction Closed

Lower Region (triptych), 1992

Lorna Simpson

Lower Region (triptych), 1992

Sale Date: April 4, 2017

Auction Closed