Lorna Simpson at Punta della Dogana in Venice
© Lorna Simpson. Photo: James Wang
Lorna Simpson at Punta della Dogana in Venice
Next year in Venice, Punta della Dogana will dedicate a major exhibition to American artist Lorna Simpson, presenting a comprehensive panorama of her work for the first time in Europe. Organized in partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York—where Simpson’s exhibition, ‘Source Notes’ is on view through 30 November 2025—the Venetian iteration is curated by Emma Lavigne, General Director of the Pinault Collection and Chief Curator, in close collaboration with the artist.
The exhibition offers a renewed and expanded selection conceived specifically for the spaces of the Punta della Dogana. It brings together around fifty works—including paintings, collages, videos, sculptures and installations—drawn from private collections, international institutions and the artist’s personal archive.
Since gaining recognition in the mid-1980s for her groundbreaking approach to conceptual photography, Simpson has consistently and critically examined the mechanisms through which images are constructed—particularly within the American context, where ideas of race and gender deeply shape self-perception and the perception of others. Since the mid-2010s, painting has become a particularly fertile ground for her artistic exploration, extending the core concerns that run through her practice: the erosion and resurgence of memory, the failures of representation and the instability of narratives.
Installation view, ‘Lorna Simpson. Source Notes,’ 2025, The Metropolitan Museum of Art © Lorna Simpson. Courtesy of The Met. Photo by Eileen Travell
The exhibition brings together works from several emblematic series from this period. It spans over twenty years of work, including a number of paintings created for her participation in the 2015 Venice Biennale, curated by Okwui Enwezor, to the debut of several new works made specifically for this exhibition.
Defying any singular interpretation, Simpson’s paintings draw viewers into uncertain zones at the edges of the visible. Dense compositions, populated by enigmatic figures, historical echoes, and political tensions, evoke uprisings and their repression. A series of Arctic panoramas, recreated from expedition archives, unfold in ranges of nocturnal blues and frosted greys, imbuing these landscapes with a suspended, dreamlike quality. Majestic and enigmatic female figures emerge from the pictorial matter, confronting the viewer with the complexity of identities and the ambiguity of their representation.
–
Learn more about Lorna Simpson.
Related News
1 / 5