Join Aperture and the Parsons Department of Photography for an artist’s talk with Lorna Simpson at Aperture Gallery. Simpson is known for her use of the image of the African-American woman to examine the ways in which gender and culture shape the interactions, relationships, and experiences of our lives in contemporary, multi-racial America. Recently, she has turned her attention to moving images; in film and video works such as Call Waiting, Simpson presents individuals engaged in intimate and enigmatic elliptical conversations that elude easy interpretation while addressing the mysteries of both identity and desire. Her newest works include figurative drawings of characters from her video works and a collection of drawings of women’s heads, turned in profile to reveal their various hairstyles. Simpson is currently creating installations involving found vintage photographs accompanied by her own drawings and new photography.

Artist’s Talk with Lorna Simpson
Tuesday, October 27,  7:00 pm

FREE

Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor
New York, New York
(212) 505-5555

The International Center of Photography unveils Dress Codes: The Third ICP Triennial of Photography and Video, showcasing over 100 recent works by 34 artists from 18 countries — all on the general subject of “fashion” (and costume, clothing, disguise, gender and culture) as a part of ICP year-long investigation of fashion photography. The curatorial team includes Vince Aletti, Kristen Lubben, Christopher Phillips, Carol Squiers and curatorial assistant Judy Ditner.

Participating artists: Yto Barrada, Valérie Belin, Thorsten Brinkmann, Cao Fei, Olga Chernysheva, Nathalie Djurberg, Stan Douglas, Kota Ezawa, Jacqueline Hassink, Hu Yang, Miyako Ishiuchi, Kimsooja, Silvia Kolbowski, Jeremy Kost, Barbara Kruger, Richard Learoyd, Kalup Linzy, Tanya Marcuse, Anne Morgenstern, Wangechi Mutu, Grace Ndiritu, Alice O’Malley, David Rosetzky, Martha Rosler, Julika Rudelius, Cindy Sherman, Laurie Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Hank Willis Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Milagros de la Torre, Janaina Tschäpe, Pinar Yolaçan and Zhou Tao.

Exhibition on view:
Friday, October 2, 2009–Sunday, January 17, 2010

International Center of Photography
1133 Avenue of the Americas, New York
(212) 857-0000

As promised, here is a sneak preview of the very special limited-edition photograph by Hank Willis Thomas that we will be unveiling as a new work in our Limited-Edition Photographs Program. Hank is the first recipient of the Aperture West Book Prize, and as a result his first monograph Pitch Blackness will be published by Aperture in October 2008. As René de Guzman writes of Willis Thomas in her essay contribution to Pitch Blackness, the artist is “most closely aligned with the pioneering African-American artists of the 1970′s and 1980′s, such as Carrie Mae Weems and Deborah Willis ( the artist’s mother, who is also an acclaimed photographer, scholar and curator), and his immediate predecessors Lorna Simpson, Glenn Ligon and Kara Walker.” The artist’s work deals with issues of grief, black-on-black violence in America, the ways in which corporate culture is complicit in the crises of black male identity and how advertising and the media represent African Americans. With his characteristic pointedness and dark humor informed by his personal experiences, Hank Willis Thomas is one of the most compelling emerging artists working today. Aperture is looking forward to bringing his work to a wider audience. Keep checking the website for print availability or email prints@aperture.org with inquiries.