Lorna Simpson

As an avid generator and collector of images, Lorna Simpson’s (b. 1960) nuanced exploration of Black American culture eschews narrow readings of race, gender, sexuality, and American history. In her monumental work Specific Notation, 2019, presented in Room 9 of the Pavilions, the commanding gaze of a Black woman is situated in the upper register among dense clouds of nocturnal blue. The figure appears only partially visible as though behind an arctic storm. Part of the artist’s foray into painting, Specific Notation comes from a body of work that constructs ominous arctic landscapes through composite images appropriated from archival materials, newspaper clippings, and the artist’s collection of Jet and Ebony magazines.