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LORNA SIMPSON, (American, b. 1960), UNTITLED, texts below boxes read: "upper case wig" and "lower...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:1,200.00 - 1,800.00 USD
LORNA SIMPSON, (American, b. 1960), UNTITLED, texts below boxes read:  upper case wig  and  lower...
LORNA SIMPSON
(American, b. 1960)
UNTITLED
texts below boxes read: "upper case wig" and "lower case wig"
signed and dated "Lorna Simpson '94" in pencil on verso
gelatin silver print
137/8 x 11 in. (35.2 x 27.9 cm)
1994
this print is from an edition of 25
(plus 12 AP and 12 PP)
from the portfolio PORTRAITS
(New York, Printed Matter, 1995)
ESTIMATE: $1,200-1,800
<p>PROVENANCE
Christie's New York
Private Collection, New York
An interesting outgrowth of her work incorporating images of hair and short, vague texts to comment on issues of race, this photograph also addresses Lorna Simpson's interest in representations of gender. Kobena Mercer states in "Black Hair/Style Politics" (OUT THERE: MARGINALIZATION AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURES, New York, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, 1990, p. 249): "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." By using pubic hair, which is even coarser than the head hair she normally uses, in a hierarchical, but anatomically correct arrangement, accompanied by humorous text, Simpson makes an ironic commentary about race and gender.