Society is stuck in the past

Lorna Simpson, the first African American woman to exhibit at the Venice Biennale in 1990, is now the subject of her first European retrospective at Punta della Dogana in Venice, titled "Third Person." In an interview with Monopol, she discusses key works including the sculpture "Woman on Snowball" (2018), which references David Hammons' "Bliz-aard Ball Sale," and "Black Totem," a column of over 700 issues of the magazine "Ebony" stacked like a totem pole to explore African American identity and history. The exhibition includes works from the past 15 years, some previously shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York under the title "Source Notes."

This retrospective matters because it highlights Simpson's pioneering role as a Black female artist in the international art world and her ongoing exploration of Black visual archives, identity, and history through diverse media including sculpture, collage, and installation. The exhibition at Punta della Dogana, a prestigious contemporary art space, underscores the growing institutional recognition of artists who address race, representation, and historical memory, while also demonstrating how Simpson's work continues to engage with and challenge traditional narratives in art.