Questioning reality.

LORNA SIMPSON

WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART

NEW YORK CITY

MARCH 1-MAY 6, 2007

Nearly twenty years after the civil rights movement pierced Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, African American photographer Lorna Simpson began revisiting the social structures that have historically limited the upward mobility of the black community. The small retrospective of her work recently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City features an array of photographs and videos that span from 1983 to 2002 and collectively gauge whether racial stereotypes still exist and function as significant oppressive barriers. Through extensive juxtaposition of word and image, Simpson presents anonymous, innocent subjects who accidentally evoke a series of social sentiments by way of the artist's applied literal associations. This simple construct, used frequently in newspaper journalism, exposes the ominous method of identification that subsequently defines individuals and groups for the national population, leaving drastic socioeconomic and political effects in its wake.

The show opened with a large black-and-white gelatin silver print titled Water Bearer (1986) depicting the back of a black woman in a sleeveless white dress who is seen emptying a plastic jug with one hand and a silver pitcher with another. The overt demand for female labor that existed between a woman's own poor family and the wealthy one that she served daily exposes the divided aspects of black women's lives. The wall nearby features "Gestures/Reenactments" (1985), which consists of six gelatin silver prints along with seven engraved plastic plaques. Using various perspectives of an African American man's stance as her subject, Simpson supplies various texts and suggests a variety of codes that could be read into each one. Using short statements that lack clear directive, the male figure in each photograph is the main referent for every literal idea.

As Okwui Enwezor states in the exhibition catalog, Simpson's early photographs, taken during the late 1970s and not included in this show, offer an unstaged global view into daily life: "In Italy, Spain, France, Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Jamaica, New York, and the American South, Simpson pursued her practice by training herself to see images in everyday events and social rituals." (1) The documentary-style investigations led Simpson to realize the tension that exists between camera and subject, emphasizing the vulnerability of the sitter who could only look away from the camera as a document was made with the fast click of the shutter. However, by the early 1980s Simpson withdrew these images from circulation since, as Enwezor suggests, she confronted a crisis within photographic representation in addition to, "race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, authorship, and authority." (2) Not long after that, Simpson shifted her focus to the African American woman.

"You're Fine, You're Hired" (1988) features the reclining figure of a black woman using four large Polaroid prints framed in light-colored wood. Measuring 9 feet long, this installation masks the woman's identity, portraying her from the back. Using color film as metaphor, the artist suggests the plight of the professional black woman during the late twentieth century. On the far right two plaques next to each other read, "Secretarial" and "Position," while the left side reveals a list of anatomical terms. By dissecting the female body, Simpson moves beyond the initial appearance that dominates the piece. Above and below the Polaroids, the artist added, "You're Fine, You're Hired." Quite similarly, "Stereo Styles" (1988) features ten individually framed Polaroid prints capturing various hairstyles worn by African American women. Words such as daring, sensible, and sweet reside arbitrarily between both rows of images, putting the viewer in the discriminatory position.

During the late 1980s, the field of feminism also experienced another revision that resulted in the creation of the Third Wave. Embracing the writings of bell hooks, members of this movement opened the doors to women of all races and cultural backgrounds. The key was to constantly assess the experiences of women's lives. "Untitled (2 Necklines)" (1989) captures two black-and-white prints of a woman's neck while in between both images are plaques that ominously read "Ring, Surround, Lasso, Noose, Eye, Areola, Halo, Cuffs, Collar, Loop, Feel the ground sliding from under you." Domestic abuse received extensive press during the late twentieth century as activists and lobby groups--such as the National Organization for Women--advocated for Congressional approval of the Violence Against Women Act, which was first recognized in 1998 and revised in 2005.

Anchored by five video installations that explore the disparity between genders as well as the exploitation of women, Simpson's retrospective clearly targets all aspects of racial and gender stereotypes, forcing the viewer to confront his or her own issues relating to diversification. As Hilton Als wrote, "Born in 1960, Simpson belongs to that generation of artists who were inspired as much by film ... as by the other plastic arts. To direct is to love the object under review, as well as a desire to dissect 'her.'" (3) Although one would rather believe that this show represents an encapsulated, historic moment, it in fact captures an ongoing portrait of American society.

JILL CONNER is an art critic based in New York City and a contributing editor for Contemporary magazine.

NOTES 1. Okwui Enwezor, "Representation and Differentiation--Lorna Simpson's Iconography of the Racial Sublime," in Okwui Enwezor, et al., Lorna Simpson (New York: Harry N. Abrams and American Federation of Arts, 2006, exhibition catalog), 103. 2. Ibid., 111. 3. Ibid., 145.