22-05-2025
Lorna Simpson's Decade of Painting Gets a Met Spotlight
Summary
ForLorna Simpson, images are always up for negotiation. A pioneer of conceptual photography, the New York-based artist is lauded for her ability to unravel the ways we reckon and wrestle with identity, challenging traditional narratives through text and image. Expanding on her impressive oeuvre of film, photography and collage, Simpson has spent the last decade delving into painting, building on her earlier themes while introducing new visual textures and techniques.
TheMetropolitan Museum of Artis currently hosting the first museum survey dedicated to Simpson's painterly chapter. TitledSource Notes, the exhibition brings together more than 30 pieces, shedding light on the artist's technical brilliance and eye for repurposing history with poetic precision.
Works on view include 'True Value (2015) and 'Three Figures (2014), key pieces from Simpson's monumental presentation at the 2015 Venice Biennale, alongside 'did time elapse' (2024) from her newest body of paintings,Earth and Sky.
The title reflects Simpson's use of archival materials — from vintage editions ofEbonyandJetto star maps and minerals — across her practice. Cut, collaged and puzzled back together, these fragments, often arranged non-chronologically, mirror the artist's own rich, layered process. Through paint, they gain new resonance, building bridges between the past and what is deeply present.
Lorna Simpson: Source Notes is now onviewin New York through November 2.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art1000 5th Ave,New York, NY 10028
