FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAURIE SIMMONS
TOURISM, 1984
NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 23, 2000
Skarstedt Fine Art is pleased to announce the exhibition of “Tourism” by Laurie Simmons. These photographs are being exhibited for the first time since they were originally show in 1984 at International with Monument in New York.
Inspired by wide screen cinema scope films, the “Tourism” Series explores the ‘impossibility of the original experience’. The photographs depict magnificent, man-made monuments that are signifiers and stereotypes of history and culture which are deeply rooted in the minds of the collective consciousness, so much so that they evoke a deja-vu. The dolls as tourist represent stereotypes of affluent, young women traveling to see the wonders of the world. We could be looking in on their experiences or they could be part of ours, but in both scenarios they are ambiguous and omnipresent.
The “Tourism” photographs succeed in striking recognition in the minds of the viewers, and Simmons achieves this by constructing realities. As Simmons states, “I’m making work about memory. And not my own personal autobiographical memories, but more like an exploration of memory and history.”
Born in Long Island, New York, Simmons lives and works in New York City. She attended the Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia and was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Grant in 1984.
Simmons has had extensive gallery and museum exhibitions since 1979. In 1997 Jan Howard organized a mid career retrospective, The Music of Regret, at The Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland. She was also included in the 1985, 1991 Biennial Exhibition, and The American Century: Art& Culture 1900-2000 exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
For further information, please contact +1 212 737 2060 or info@skarstedt.com
LAURIE SIMMONS
TOURISM, 1984
NOVEMBER 8 - DECEMBER 23, 2000
Skarstedt Fine Art is pleased to announce the exhibition of “Tourism” by Laurie Simmons. These photographs are being exhibited for the first time since they were originally show in 1984 at International with Monument in New York.
Inspired by wide screen cinema scope films, the “Tourism” Series explores the ‘impossibility of the original experience’. The photographs depict magnificent, man-made monuments that are signifiers and stereotypes of history and culture which are deeply rooted in the minds of the collective consciousness, so much so that they evoke a deja-vu. The dolls as tourist represent stereotypes of affluent, young women traveling to see the wonders of the world. We could be looking in on their experiences or they could be part of ours, but in both scenarios they are ambiguous and omnipresent.
The “Tourism” photographs succeed in striking recognition in the minds of the viewers, and Simmons achieves this by constructing realities. As Simmons states, “I’m making work about memory. And not my own personal autobiographical memories, but more like an exploration of memory and history.”
Born in Long Island, New York, Simmons lives and works in New York City. She attended the Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia and was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Grant in 1984.
Simmons has had extensive gallery and museum exhibitions since 1979. In 1997 Jan Howard organized a mid career retrospective, The Music of Regret, at The Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland. She was also included in the 1985, 1991 Biennial Exhibition, and The American Century: Art& Culture 1900-2000 exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
For further information, please contact +1 212 737 2060 or info@skarstedt.com