Lorna Simpson: Third Person

Pinault Collection presents a solo exhibition by Lorna Simpson curated by Emma Lavigne, organised in partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and made possible with the exclusive support of Bottega Veneta. Bringing together around fifty works, including paintings, collages, sculptures, installations and film, the exhibition offers a renewed selection conceived for Punta della Dogana, with new works created specifically for the presentation.

Focusing on Simpson’s painting practice, the exhibition examines a body of work developed since the mid-2010s in continuity with her earlier investigations into the construction of images, the instability of narratives, memory and representation. It includes works from key series such as “Ice”, “Special Characters” and “Earth and Sky”, spanning more than twenty years of practice, from paintings made for the 2015 Venice Biennale to newly produced works.

The exhibition unfolds through three main ensembles: compositions marked by enigmatic figures, historical echoes and political tensions; Arctic panoramas derived from expedition archives and rendered in nocturnal blues and greys; and a group of female figures that foreground complexity of identity and ambiguity of representation. Collage also plays a central role, including a forty-part installation that draws on the artist’s visual archive and reflects her use of juxtaposition, slippage and free association. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published in collaboration with Marsilio Arte (Venice), featuring a text by Emma Lavigne as well as section texts and annotated captions.