Cure / Heal from "10: Artist as Catalyst"

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Cure / Heal from "10: Artist as Catalyst"

Artist Lorna Simpson (American, born 1960)

Publisher The Alternative Museum, New York (The Alternative Museum, New York)

Date1992

DimensionsH: 18 in. (45.7 cm); W: 19 1/2 in. (49.5 cm)

MediumScreenprint

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineGift of Barbara Sunderman Hoerner

Object number

2006.60J

Not on View

Label TextIn Cure/Heal Lorna Simpson considers gender stereotypes, specifically clichés concerning the physical appearance of the female body. In this screenprint, she juxtaposes a black and white photographic image of a pair of high-heel shoes \with the words CURE/HEAL printed in red below. By showcasing objects often associated with notions of femininity and sexuality instead of showing an image of a woman, Simpson focuses our attention on stereotypes, while the identity and individuality of the shoes’ owner remain hidden to us. Simpson declares, “Stereotypes don’t reveal anything about a woman or an experience anyway. So I am suggesting that clichés and assumptions should be discarded.” Though she deliberately leaves her image open to interpretation, her text—with its reference to healing—suggests one’s ability to reclaim and assert her/his/their own identity. Like Adrian Piper’s Let’s Talk (located nearby), Simpson’s screenprint was published in the portfolio 10: Artist as Catalyst as a benefit for the Alternative Museum, founded by and for artists in 1975 in response to segregation and prejudice in the art world. The portfolio unites the work of 10 artists committed to art that engages social and humanitarian issues.Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, PICTURE ID: Contemporary African American Works on Paper, March 14-June 14, 2020.