“He decides to adopt the role of voyeur and look out in order to go unnoticed and noticed at the same time. ” (Lorna Simpson Video Part I) Although Lorna Simpson has been classified as a photographer, her art more appropriately approaches painting, sculpture, and even film, in its relation to its audience. The surfaces that she reproduces her photos on stray away from the traditional glossy material that tend to reflect light, and rather on surfaces that seem to absorb it, such as felt.
Through her work she addresses themes of cultural, political, and social significance; giving meaning and telling a narrative through her art, rather than having it be "just a picture. " Lorna Simpson has a very unique way of showing and narrating her works,
...and understandably follows the post conceptual artistic style. An ideal work day for her consists of shooting and printing photos in order to show them off in a gallery. The work that was focused on in the video rested on the issues of sexual or private activities in public places, such as work buildings, cars, parks, and public bathrooms.
While at first these works look like a standard photograph, she engages the viewer past the surface and into the deeper meaning of her work. Lorna's work is not just about the picture, it is about the meaning, story, and narrative behind it -- the voyeurism and to be unnoticed, yet noticed at the same time. In one work of hers she grids together a picture of a work building with two clocks on it. The clocks represent the time for a man an
a woman to meet for sex, while the buildings provide the public location of that meeting.
The work portrayed is about descriptions of a beautiful city scape or landscape, and inscribing something else into it. Lorna's artwork does not come automatically to the viewer; however, it requires time and thought to acquire it's actual meaning. In a sense, you must work your way into the work and spend time looking at every detail and contrast that the picture has to offer. Other interests of hers include activities, physical space, and absences of the body. For example, one of her works includes the letters "A,E,I,O,U", and each letter fills an empty space of an African American woman's face.
In addition, under each particular picture is a word that starts with each one of the letters and helps drive the meaning of the piece into the viewer. Other works of hers will focus on cultural, political, and social themes. This includes pictures of African American women, or men, and words associated to tie in a message that she is wanting the viewer to receive. For example she has a piece showing a black woman's mouth, chin, neck, and collar bone, with words in the middle, and followed by a phrase, "feel the ground sliding from under you. Although the picture is serene and elegant, it suggests lynching in a non-confrontational sort of matter. Lorna Simpson is changing and opening the doors for art in photography. With the different surfaces she prints her image on, she gets a look of originality and success in each picture. She is constantly experimenting with printing techniques, such as size
and scale qualities, and the relationship she can acquire between the image and the viewer. She has mastered the post conceptual artistic style and continues to further and change her works one frame at a time.
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