Lorna Simpson is an African-American photographer and mixed media artist. Lorna because widely known in the art world in the 80’s and 90’s through her work Guarded Conditions and Square Deal. She was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended an arts high school in the city. She grew up with parents that were supportive to the arts and her artistic abilities. She later attended the School of Visual Arts in New York where she received her Batchelor of Fine Arts in Photography. After this, she traveled to Europe and Africa, creating her first strong series of documentary work. She would later go on to receive her MFA at the University of California at San Diego. Simpson’s work so effortlessly combines photographs with text to create a casual and textual narrative for viewers to experience. I love her work because it is so different than any other artists on this list. Her work just seems so tactile and concise while the others all seem to have a very lyrical and smooth feel to them. Her use of polyptychs in her series bring forth her ability to make photos look seamless when next to one another.
All work courteous of Lorna Simpson.