From collaging photos from ads in vintage issues of Jet and Ebony magazines to breaking down subjects into fragments of hair or the body, Lorna Simpson (b. 1960) takes a conceptual approach to photography in her ongoing examination of identity.
Whether it’s the 21 lithographs printed on felt of various hairstyles for her Wigs (Portfolio) (1994) or her Guarded Conditions (1989) series, which calls out the violence that Black women encounter with its fragmentation of a woman’s body across color Polaroid prints, Simpson’s best-known projects comprise text and image to confront conventional ideas of beauty, gender and race. In particular, she uses her own experiences in radical work that often challenges universally perpetuated beauty standards that have long excluded Black women.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, where she continues to live and work, Simpson initially took documentary photographs as she traveled the world in the 1970s. She then studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York and the University of California San Diego, earning her MFA in visual arts there in 1985. It was in graduate school in the 1980s that Simpson shifted her perspective in photography to grapple with complex ideas of objectivity. Some of her early projects combined text with studio images, mostly of Black women, to highlight how photographs are shaped by both context and expectations. Later expanding into film, painting, drawing and sculpture, Simpson has retained that interest in representation and memory at the center of her work, regardless of medium.
In 1990, Simpson became the first Black woman to exhibit at the Venice Biennale, and her career has included solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
Find art by Lorna Simpson on 1stDibs.
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III (Wish #1, Wish #2, Wish #3) Set of 3 Wishbones - Peter Norton Christmas Gift
By Lorna Simpson
Located in Soquel, CA
III (Wish #1, Wish #2, Wish #3) Set of 3 Wishbones - Peter Norton Christmas Gift Fanciful set of three different wishbones by Lorna Simpson (American, b. 1960). Three wishbones, one...
Bronze
$8,800
Recall from the Exit Art/1st World Portfolio Silkscreen on Felt, Pencil Signed/N
By Lorna Simpson
Located in New York, NY
LORNA SIMPSON Recall, from the Exit Art/The First World Portfolio, 1998 Silkscreen on Felt 30 × 22 inches Hand signed and numbered 17/50 on the front Unframed This impressive silkscr...
Felt, Screen
"Square Deal, Square Meal, Squared Away" (Chanterelle menu)
By Lorna Simpson
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Lorna Simpson (b. 1960) is an American artist renowned as a pioneer of conceptual photography. Her artwork, regardless of medium, explores the interplay between historical memory, cu...
Silver Gelatin, Letterpress
Recall by Lorna Simpson
By Lorna Simpson
Located in New York, NY
Lorna Simpson Recall, 1998 Silkscreen on felt 30 x 22 inches Edition of 50 Hand signed and numbered by the artist
Felt, Screen
$2,500
H 17.5 in W 12.5 in D 3 in
Mutation 10 - small, white, geometrical, 3D, felt, fabric, biomorphic, wall art
By Chung-Im Kim
Located in Bloomfield, ON
Fabric artist Chung-Im King’s series of felt tapestries called “Mutation” consist of striking geometrical shapes that mimic designs found in nature. The artist has cut pure white fel...
Felt, Thread, Mixed Media
$1,500
H 18.5 in W 21.5 in D 1 in
Four After the Party, Hand Embellished Serigraph On Linen, 120/150, Framed
By Itzchak Tarkay
Located in Aventura, FL
Serigraph in colors on linen with hand embellishment in acrylic paint. Hand signed lower front by Itzchak Tarkay. Hand signed lower front by Itzchak Tarkay. Hand numbered 120/150 ...
Canvas, Screen, Acrylic
$8,829
H 27.56 in W 27.56 in
Not titled yet, from the series 'A Gaze of One's Own‘ – Brigitte Lustenberger
By Brigitte Lustenberger
Located in Zurich, CH
Brigitte LUSTENBERGER (*1969, Switzerland) Not titled yet, from the series 'A Gaze of One's Own‘, 2021 Silver gelatin print on Baryta paper Sheet 70 x 70 cm (27 1/2 x 27 1/2 in.) Edition of 5, plus 2 AP; Edn. no. 1/5 print only Born in Zurich, Switzerland, Brigitte studied at Zurich University and received her MA in Social and Photo History in 1996. In the following years she established herself as an fine art photographer. She moved to New York and received her MFA in Fine Art Photography and Related Media at Parsons The New School of Design in 2007. The main issues in her works lie in her interest in the study of the gaze, the interplay between absence and presence in a photographic image, and the fact that the reading of a photograph is most often triggered by a collective memory. She explores the media itself and its close connection to themes like decay, memory, death and transitoriness. Brigitte Lustenberger has shown nationally and internationally in both solo and group shows. She had Solo Shows at the Museée de l’Elysée in Lausanne/Switzerland, at Walter Keller’s Scalo Gallery in Zurich and New York, at Le Maillon...
Silver Gelatin
$10,124
H 20.01 in W 23.63 in
69YK #7 – Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese Photography, Nude, Black and White, Art
By Nobuyoshi Araki
Located in Zurich, CH
Nobuyoshi ARAKI (*1940, Japan) 69YK #7, 2009 Gelatin silver print 50.8 x 60 cm (20 x 23 5/8 in.) Print only Nobuyoshi Araki (Tokyo, 1940) is a Tokyo-based photographer. Araki completed his studies at Chiba University’s Department of Photography, Painting and Engineering with a focus on the study of film and photography. His photographic project Satchin earned him the prestigious Taiyo Award in 1964, shortly after he had joined the advertising agency Dentsu, where he worked until 1972. At Dentsu he met his wife Yoko, to whom he paid homage in Sentimental Journey, a photographic record of their honeymoon published in 1971. Eros and thanatos (sex and death) has been a central theme in Araki’s work; an abiding fascination with female genitalia and women’s bodies in Japanese bondage...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
$3,200
H 19 in W 18 in D 9 in
Hand Made, Woven and Crocheted Abstract Fiber Sculpture, Yarn, Felt, Mixed Media
By Ethan Meyer
Located in St. Louis, MO
Hand Made, Woven and Crocheted Abstract Fiber Sculpture, Yarn, Felt, Mixed Media Groot Foundation Grant Honorable Mention Recipient 2025 "My work, both in painting and sculpture, i...
Felt, Yarn, Glass, Mixed Media
$4,124
H 40 in W 30 in
Jane March (Limited Edition of 25) - 30"x40" Celebrity Photography
By John Stoddart 1
Located in New York, NY
This fine art print features actress and model Jane March, posed topless on the rooftop of the Hotel Le Bristol in Paris in 1992. This risqué iconic b...
Silver Gelatin
$10,124
H 20.01 in W 23.63 in
69YK #39 – Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese Photography, Nude, Black and White, Art
By Nobuyoshi Araki
Located in Zurich, CH
Nobuyoshi ARAKI (*1940, Japan) 69YK #39, 2009 Gelatin silver print 50.8 x 60 cm (20 x 23 5/8 in.) Print only Nobuyoshi Araki (Tokyo, 1940) is a Tokyo-based photographer. Araki completed his studies at Chiba University’s Department of Photography, Painting and Engineering with a focus on the study of film and photography. His photographic project Satchin earned him the prestigious Taiyo Award in 1964, shortly after he had joined the advertising agency Dentsu, where he worked until 1972. At Dentsu he met his wife Yoko, to whom he paid homage in Sentimental Journey, a photographic record of their honeymoon published in 1971. Eros and thanatos (sex and death) has been a central theme in Araki’s work; an abiding fascination with female genitalia and women’s bodies in Japanese bondage...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
$4,500
H 39 in W 27 in D 4 in
Contemporary Fiber Art, Needle Felted "Painting" with Hand Stitched Wrapped Edge
By Ethan Meyer
Located in St. Louis, MO
Contemporary Fiber Art, Needle Felted "Painting" with Hand Stitched Wrapped Edge Hangs on wall via french cleat Groot Foundation Honorable Mention Recipient 2025 "My work, both in...
Textile, Felt, Yarn, Foam, Wood
$5,884
H 15.75 in W 11.82 in
Deena's back - Willy Ronis, 20th Century, French Humanist Photography
By Willy Ronis
Located in Paris, FR
One of the most famous members of the Humanist photography in France. Signed lower right by the artist. Stamp of the artist's studio on the back.
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$10,120
H 20.01 in W 23.63 in
Love-Dream, Love-Nothing #083 – Nobuyoshi Araki, Woman, Nude, Japan, Photography
By Nobuyoshi Araki
Located in Zurich, CH
Nobuyoshi ARAKI (*1940, Japan) Love-Dream, Love-Nothing #083, 2018 gelatin silver print 50.8 x 60 cm (20 x 23 5/8 in.) Print only – Nobuyoshi Araki Nobuyoshi Araki (Tokyo, 1940) is ...
Silver Gelatin
Zhangjiajie II, China
By Alexandre Manuel
Located in New York City, NY
Alexandre Manuel Zhangjiajie II, China, 2018 12x12 inches Edition of 10 Silver Gelatin Print
Silver Gelatin
$3,500
H 13 in W 10 in D 6 in
Hyang #2 - blue, white, red, abstract, industrial felt wall sculpture
By Chung-Im Kim
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This intriguing wall composition is by Chung-Im Kim, an award-winning fibre artist whose exquisite work has been showcased and celebrated internationally. In this handmade sculptural...
Felt, Thread, Mixed Media
Partition and Time
By Lorna Simpson
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Lorna Simpson is an American artist renowned as a pioneer of conceptual photography. Her artwork, regardless of medium, explores the interplay between historical memory, culture, and...
Silver Gelatin
Untitled
By Lorna Simpson
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this color electrostatic heat transfer on wool felt. Signed, dated and numbered 13/250 in ink by Simpson. Printed by Jeffrey Ryan, 21 Steps Editions, Albuqu...
Wool, Felt, Color
Wigs
By Lorna Simpson
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Lorna Simpson (b. 1960) is an American artist renowned as a pioneer of conceptual photography. Her artwork explores the interplay between historical memory, culture, and African-Amer...
Silver Gelatin
Van Der See Prop Vase
By Lorna Simpson
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Lorna Simpson (b. 1960) is an American artist renowned as a pioneer of conceptual photography. Her artwork explores the interplay between historical memory, culture, and African-Amer...
Screen
Partition and Time
By Lorna Simpson
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Lorna Simpson is an American artist renowned as a pioneer of conceptual photography. Her artwork, regardless of medium, explores the interplay between hi...
Silver Gelatin
Untitled
By Lorna Simpson
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print (Edition of 25) Signed, dated, and numbered, verso 14 x 11 inches, sheet This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Much of Lorna Simpson’s work incorporates images of hair along with short, vague texts in order to comment on issues of race. This artwork illustrates the artist’s interest in representations of gender. Kobena Mercer writes: “Within racism’s bipolar codification of human values, black people’s hair has been historically devalued as the most visible sign of blackness, second only to skin.” [“Black Hair/Style Politics,” Out There: Marginalization and Contemporary Cultures (New York City: The New Museum of Contemporary Art, 1990), p. 249] By employing pubic hair...
Silver Gelatin
Partition and Time
By Lorna Simpson
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Lorna Simpson is an American artist renowned as a pioneer of conceptual photography. Her artwork, regardless of medium, explores the interplay between historical memory, culture, and...
Silver Gelatin
Sold
H 26.25 in W 33.5 in
Lorna Simpson-Backdrops Circa 1940-26.25" x 33.5"-Serigraph-1998-Photography
By Lorna Simpson
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Hand signed, dated in pencil on the reverse by Simpson. This piece is a diptych containing two serigraphs printed on felt panels. The figures in this di...
Screen
Untitled
By Lorna Simpson
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print (Edition of 25) Signed, dated, and numbered, verso 14 x 11 inches, sheet This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Much of Lorna Simpson’s work incorporates images of hair along with short, vague texts in order to comment on issues of race. This artwork illustrates the artist’s interest in representations of gender. Kobena Mercer writes: “Within racism’s bipolar codification of human values, black people’s hair has been historically devalued as the most visible sign of blackness, second only to skin.” [“Black Hair/Style Politics,” Out There: Marginalization and Contemporary Cultures (New York City: The New Museum of Contemporary Art, 1990), p. 249] By employing pubic hair...
Silver Gelatin
Untitled, 1995 Electrostatic heat transfer on white felt
By Lorna Simpson
Located in Surfside, FL
Lorna Simpson was born in 1960 in Brooklyn, New York, and received her BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, New York, and her MFA from the University of California, S...
Felt
Easy To Remember (15 Mouths)
By Lorna Simpson
Located in Los Angeles, CA
each 10 x 8 inches (image size 1 5/8 x 3 1/4 inches), edition of 40, signed and numbered Born in Brooklyn, New York, she attended the High School of Art and Design and the School of...