Lorna Simpson's Bold Shift: Painting as a New Frontier of Expression

Many of the most compelling artists distinguish themselves not just by early success, but by their willingness to challenge and reinvent their creative approach. Lorna Simpson exemplifies this restless spirit, demonstrating both technical skill and imaginative vision in a pivotal retrospective titled “Source Notes,” currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

During the late 1980s and 1990s, Simpson earned acclaim as a leading figure among a wave of conceptual artists and photographers who, following in the footsteps of earlier innovators like Cindy Sherman, manipulated the photographic medium to produce invented realities rather than straightforward depictions.

Born in Brooklyn in 1960 and raised in Queens, Simpson initially identified with street photography, studying the craft at the School of Visual Arts. Her graduate studies at the University of California, San Diego, immersed her in Conceptualism and inspired her to expand her artistic methods. Facing limited opportunities as a Black woman photographer, she embraced experimentation with both medium and message, focusing on themes of race and gender politics.

Simpson developed a distinctive studio practice featuring carefully staged portraits of anonymous Black women dressed in simple white garments against neutral backgrounds. These figures often avert their faces from the camera, creating images that evoke a blend of voyeuristic ethnographic photos, mug shots, and performance documentation. Many works incorporate brief textual elements that suggest narratives—sometimes violent—without providing clear explanations, cultivating an aura of mystery.

This sense of enigmatic storytelling has been central to Simpson’s work across photography, film, and installation. Over the last decade, however, she has shifted her primary focus back to painting—a medium she had explored before art school—and the Met exhibition offers a concentrated yet powerful survey of this recent direction.