LORNA SIMPSON

In 2026, a major survey exhibition dedicated to the artist, _Lorna Simpson. Third Person, _is on show at Punta della Dogana in Dorsoduro, Venice.

Early Years

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Simpson attended the High School of Art and Design inManhattan before earning her BFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York (1983) and her MFA in visual arts from the University of California, San Diego (1985). Simpson’s early exposure to New York’s cultural scene, combined with her academic background, shaped her critical perspective on representation and narrative in art. She continues to live and work in New York.

Lorna Simpson Artworks

Simpson’s art practice is known for combining photography, text, collage, painting, and sculpture to examine the complexities of representation, memory, and identity in contemporary art.

Photo-Text Works, 1980s—1990s

Simpson gained prominence in the 1980s with large-scale photo-text works such as Guarded Conditions (1989) and Square Deal (1990), which depict Black women from behind or in fragments, accompanied by enigmatic texts. These works challenge stereotypes and question how race and gender are represented in art and society.

Felt Works and Video, 1990s

In the mid-1990s, Simpson created multi-panel photographs printed on felt, exploring themes of public and private identity. She also expanded into video installations, such as Cloudscape (2004), which further investigate memory and desire.

Collage, Painting, and Appropriation, 2000s—Present

In the early 2010s, Simpson made a significant shift in her practice by turning to painting. This transition was marked by her desire to expand beyond photography and collage, exploring new ways to convey memory and identity. Her paintings are rooted in collage and often incorporate found imagery from vintage Ebony and Jet magazines and archival press photographs. She overlays these with washes of acrylic, ink, and silkscreen, creating works where bodies and faces emerge and dissolve in fields of abstraction.

Simpson’s painting style is characterised by vivid, fluid brushwork, repetition, and the transformation of hair into cosmic, crystalline, or elemental forms. She often uses cool blues, deep blacks, and layered textures, merging figuration and abstraction. The resulting works evoke both personal and collective histories, with hair and natural elements acting as metaphors for identity and transformation. Simpson’s paintings merge figuration and abstraction, using colour and texture to evoke both personal and collective histories.

Collaboration with Rihanna

In 2021, Simpson collaborated with pop icon Rihanna for the cover and a 12-page portfolio in Essence magazine, extending her ‘Of Earth & Sky’ collage series. Simpson reimagined Rihanna through her signature technique of combining photographic portraiture with painted and collaged geological and cosmic forms, resulting in images that celebrate Black beauty, power, and transformation.

Public Commissions

• Public Art Fund Billboards, New York City (1992)
• Chicago Transit Authority Project, Chicago (2000)

Awards and Accolades

• J. Paul Getty Medal (2019)
• International Center of Photography Infinity Award in Art (2010)
• Hugo Boss Prize Finalist, Guggenheim Museum (1998)
• National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1985)
• Louis Comfort Tiffany Award (1991)

Exhibitions

Lorna Simpson has been the subject of both solo and group exhibitions at important institutions. A selection of important exhibitions is provided below.

Solo Exhibitions

• Lorna Simpson: Source Notes, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2025)
• Lorna Simpson: Earth & Sky, Hauser & Wirth, New York (2024—2025)
• Lorna Simpson, Hauser & Wirth, Zürich (2023)
• Lorna Simpson 1986—92, Hauser & Wirth, New York (2022)
• Lorna Simpson: Everrrything, Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles (2021)
• Lorna Simpson: Darkening, Hauser & Wirth, New York (2019)
• Lorna Simpson, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2007)
• Projects 23: Lorna Simpson, Museum of Modern Art, New York (1990)

Group Exhibitions

• Venice Biennale, Venice (2015, 1990)
• Documenta XI, Kassel (2002)
• We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women 1965—85, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2018)
• What Absence is Made Of, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC (2017)
• The Decade Show, New Museum, Studio Museum in Harlem, Museum of Hispanic Contemporary Art, New York (1990)

In 2026, a major survey exhibition dedicated to the artist, _Lorna Simpson. Third Person, _is on show at Punta della Dogana in Dorsoduro, Venice. Organised in partnership with The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and curated by Emma Lavigne of the Pinault Collection, the exhibition offers a renewed and expanded iteration of The Met show, Lorna Simpson: Source Notes, bringing together works spanning Simpson’s practice, including paintings, collages, sculptures, installations, films, and newly commissioned pieces.

Website and Instagram

Lorna Simpson’s website can be found here and her Instagram here.

Further Reading

Simpson’s practice has been featured in leading publications, including Frieze, The Gentlewoman, and The New York Times.,

Lorna Simpson FAQs

Ocula | 2026