Xaviera Simmons Untitled (Pink) 2009

Xaviera Simmons often uses the landscape to create characters that allude to histories, memories, and fictions embedded in specific sites. Her photographs construct nonlinear narratives that present female subjects (often the artist herself) situated amid natural settings posed, costumed, and engaging in activities that reference and challenge Western notions of the “pastoral” or “sublime.”  In this work, the female protagonist is shown in a fluorescent pink dress that dramatically contrasts with the bright green leaves of the forest she inhabits. Bare-breasted, she holds a spear-like stick in her hand, lunging forward toward an aggressor, a mound of dark earth similar in shape to a large ape. Elements in the scene conjure historical and contemporary cultural references: the woman’s pose recalls images of ancient Greek or African warriors, while the ape figure evokes King Kong. Sexuality and potential violence haunt the scene. The female protagonist fights against nature, while appearing to form part of it, defending her territory.
Identification
Title
Untitled (Pink)
Production Date
2009
Object Number
2013.55
Credit Line
Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds provided by Jorge M. Pérez and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Copyright
© Xaviera Simmons. Courtesy David Castillo Gallery
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Physical Qualities
Medium
Chromogenic print
Dimensions
40 x 50 inches
Visual Description
Untitled (Pink) by Xaviera Simmons is a chromogenic print, measuring forty inches by fifty inches. It is an enlarged photograph that a little over three feet tall and four feet wide. It is displayed in a landscape orientation, with the longer, four-foot side of the large picture running parallel to the floor. This photograph shows an outdoor scene of two figures, facing off against each other in a forest setting. The picture was captured during broad daylight, owing to the bright sunlit colors and background. The entirety of the picture is covered in green leaves and foliage. The yellow radiance of the abundant daylight spills forward from behind the green trees and thin brown trunks that make up the scene’s background. In the foreground, on either side of the photograph are two thin brown trunks, one on the left and one on the right. These two trees frame the confrontation between the two main figures. The figure on the left of the photograph is a brown, fantastical creature. It is large and shaggy in appearance, like a pile of soil, compost, and mulch come to life. It looks like it is squatting or hunched over as it faces the other figure. It has green leaves for eyes, and looks directly at its opponent. The figure on the right is a brown skinned woman with a blond afro. She is seen in profile, revealing only the left side of her face, as she stares down the large shaggy creature. She is standing on guard, with her left leg straight behind her, and her right leg bent at the knee in front of her. Her arms hold a large brown stick, longer than she is tall. She wields the stick like a lance or spear, pointing directly at the creature opposite her on the other side of the photograph. She is wearing a bright pink tunic that ends at her elbows and just above her knees. The tunic is tailored in a way that the neckline plunges beneath her bust to expose her breasts. The bright pink contrasts sharply against the organic colors of the forest-setting. Between the two figures is a line of shrubbery and small plants that divides the composition of the photograph. This line runs in a diagonal from the lower left corner to the middle right side of the photograph. On the left side of the picture, the woman’s side, she stands in a clearing of mottled leaves and brown soil. On the right side, the creature’s side, the green foliage is denser and the ground line is not visible, as the figure is fully surrounded by plant life.
Xaviera Simmons
Xaviera Simmons — b.1974, New York; lives in New York
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