Opening 30 September 2023, the US artist Lorna Simpson will exhibit new work in Zurich from her ongoing Special Character series, marking Simpson’s first solo exhibition with the gallery in Switzerland. First unveiled in 2019, her Special Character series superimposes women’s faces from fashion and wig ads found in the pages of Ebony magazine, revealing through repetition the reinforcement of stereotypes in the everyday imagery we consume. In these works, silkscreened images of isolated figures emerge from layered washes of paint, highlighting Simpson’s continual investigation of the relationship between parts and wholes and the nature of representation, identity, gender and race. By repurposing and reconfiguring found images—a signature source in her work—Simpson creates her own highly distinctive visual terrain that offers a potent response to American life today.

Born in Brooklyn, Lorna Simpson came to prominence in the 1990s with her pioneering approach to conceptual photography. She deftly explores the medium’s umbilical relation to memory and history, both central themes within her work.

Image: Lorna Simpson, Night Fall (detail), 2023 © Lorna Simpson. Photo: James Wang