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Pérez Art Museum Miami

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Still is a single, large-scale photographic image that has been silkscreened onto 36 felt panels. The technique makes the image look as though it is floating on the surface of this material, an effect similar to that of an antique photogravure. Borrowing from the traditions of 19th-century romantic landscape painting and 20th-century photographs of the North American West, Simpson interrupts the beauty and reverie of the environment she depicts through the subtle inclusion of short texts printed across the image. These captions describe diverse interactions between couples in this space, which include sexual encounters. The inclusion of these texts speaks to the way in which landscapes are defined through the human interactions that take place within them, while additionally addressing how photographs often contain hidden narratives. 
Identification
Title
Still
Production Date
1997
Object Number
1997.1a-kk
Credit Line
Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds provided by Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz and Nedra and Mark Oren
Copyright
© Lorna Simpson. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
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Physical Qualities
Medium
Serigraph on felt
Dimensions
121 1/2 x 217 9/16 inches
Visual Description
Still by artist Lorna Simpson is a photograph silkscreened on thirty-six panels of felt, made in 1997. It measures ten feet high by eighteen feet long. It is displayed in a landscape orientation, meaning its longest side runs parallel to the floor. Still depicts a landscape scene in black and white. The composition is densely packed with foliage and trees. The trees and foliage make up the majority of the composition and partially obscure what appears to be a man-made structure made of cement or concrete in the lower center of the image, four panels across and three panels down. The area around the man-made object is dark and heavily consumed in shadow. Making up the bottom most of the composition is a body of water that appears to be a river or stream. It is a dark grey or black that contrasts with the lighter shades of grey that make up the foliage and sky above. With leaves scattered on the flowing water and some trees appearing barren, it is possible that the image was taken in the fall or early winter. In the foreground, or the area closest to the viewer on the left, there is a hanging group of branches from either a tree or bush which points towards the man-made object in the middle. The density of the foliage gives the impression of being consumed by nature. Printed over the image are short bits of text that describe interactions between people in the space, including sexual encounters. The individual panels of felt are visible and from afar look like a grid structure that is either floating above the image or serves as a means to organize the felt squares.
Lorna Simpson
Lorna Simpson — b. 1960, New York; lives in New York
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