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)
Corridor - Split, 2003

Lorna Simpson

Corridor - Split, 2003

Sale Date: June 30, 2008

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1995

Lorna Simpson

Untitled, 1995

Sale Date: May 17, 2008

Auction Closed

The car, 1995

Lorna Simpson

The car, 1995

Sale Date: May 16, 2008

Auction Closed

III or wish #1, wish #2, wish #3 (set of 3), 1994

Lorna Simpson

III or wish #1, wish #2, wish #3 (set of 3), 1994

Sale Date: February 8, 2008

Auction Closed

Wishbones III

Lorna Simpson

Wishbones III

Sale Date: December 12, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled - Upper case wig/Lower case wig, 1994

Lorna Simpson

Untitled - Upper case wig/Lower case wig, 1994

Sale Date: May 19, 2007

Auction Closed

2 tracks (triptych), 1990

Lorna Simpson

2 tracks (triptych), 1990

Sale Date: April 23, 1996

Auction Closed

C-ration, 1991

Lorna Simpson

C-ration, 1991

Sale Date: October 18, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1992

Lorna Simpson

Untitled, 1992

Sale Date: September 27, 2006

Auction Closed

Counting, 1991

Lorna Simpson

Counting, 1991

Sale Date: September 27, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled (Hair), 1994

Lorna Simpson

Untitled (Hair), 1994

Sale Date: April 8, 2006

Auction Closed

Flipside (in 3 parts), 1991

Lorna Simpson

Flipside (in 3 parts), 1991

Sale Date: May 13, 2005

Auction Closed

Practical joke (in 2 parts), 1992

Lorna Simpson

Practical joke (in 2 parts), 1992

Sale Date: May 11, 2005

Auction Closed

Ohne Titel, 1991

Lorna Simpson

Ohne Titel, 1991

Sale Date: December 3, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1989

Lorna Simpson

Untitled, 1989

Sale Date: October 21, 2004

Auction Closed

Myths (in 4 parts), 1991

Lorna Simpson

Myths (in 4 parts), 1991

Sale Date: May 13, 2004

Auction Closed

Wishbone, 1993–1993

Lorna Simpson

Wishbone, 1993–1993

Sale Date: February 12, 2004

Auction Closed

The bed, 1995–1995

Lorna Simpson

The bed, 1995–1995

Sale Date: November 12, 2003

Auction Closed

Double negative, 1990–1990

Lorna Simpson

Double negative, 1990–1990

Sale Date: October 18, 2003

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1994–1994

Lorna Simpson

Untitled, 1994–1994

Sale Date: April 25, 2003

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1993–1993

Lorna Simpson

Untitled, 1993–1993

Sale Date: April 25, 2003

Auction Closed

Myths, 1991–1991

Lorna Simpson

Myths, 1991–1991

Sale Date: November 13, 2002

Auction Closed

Eating disorder, 1989–1993

Lorna Simpson

Eating disorder, 1989–1993

Sale Date: October 26, 2002

Auction Closed

Haze, 1998–1998

Lorna Simpson

Haze, 1998–1998

Sale Date: September 26, 2002

Auction Closed