Motion and Stillness: Footnotes on “Source Notes”
Despite growing up in New York, I had never set foot in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On family trips, we’d always make sure to stop by the local art museum. I remember visiting the Morikami Museum by my grandparents in Florida, the Smithsonian and art galleries in Israel, yet we somehow never made it to the Met. It was one of those plans that was always a suggestion for a lazy Sunday that never came into fruition. But that all changed in my first week at Stern, when I finally visited the Met for the first time.
My friends and I took advantage of the pay-what-you-wish policy available to YU students with a New York address and made an afternoon out of the Met. We wandered through exhibits, posed like the ancient statues and tried to guess the stories behind ancient paintings. The trip’s highlight was the last exhibit we happened upon: “Source Notes” by Lorna Simpson.
Simpson, born in Brooklyn in 1960 and educated at the School of Visual Arts and UC San Diego, is well-known for her innovative work in photography, painting and collage. Her work explores identity, memory and narrative through striking visual combinations. The exhibit, “Source Notes,” named after Simpson’s use of famous source material in her collages, highlights the evolution of her career over the past four decades. Her collages are massive, stretching across entire walls, often covered in sweeping spills of blue ink. This displays Simpson’s mastery of painting, collage and photography, melding them beautifully, creating an energetic and magnetic effect. As I walked through, I realized you don’t just look at her pieces — you stand with them, pulled into the way they mix motion and stillness.
Upon entering the exhibition, you are greeted by the most astonishing image. Her piece, titled “True Value,” stands a towering 11 to 12 feet high, featuring an image of a woman in a cheetah print dress walking a cheetah, with their faces swapped. The collage reminded me of walking my own dog, as I often feel she’s the one leading the way. The strange reversal was not only funny but also thought-provoking, drawing me further into the exhibit.
While most of the gallery is filled with enormous, ink-drenched canvases, there is also a case of smaller works. These are all collages which highlight Simpson’s skill with detail. Magazine clippings, photographs and scraps of text drawn from mainstream magazines and historical photographs come together to create images that feel layered and thoughtful. Her use of widely recognizable images, such as an asteroid, Carrie’s dress from “The Shining” and Rihanna, invites the audience to draw on their memories to participate in the creative process. The iconic imagery calls out to the viewer, asking them to remember the emotions felt when listening to a Rihanna song, or the fear imposed by “The Shining,” transforming the works through each person’s unique experiences. The scale of the large works and the detail of the small works both showcase Simpson’s versatility and the breadth of her career.
This exhibit is the first-of-its-kind to follow her career journey from early experimental photography to the commanding visual pieces of today. What makes her work so memorable is its ability to feel grand and personal at the same time. The larger canvases sweep the viewer up with their drama, while the smaller collages allow one to take a closer look at Simpson’s craftsmanship. It is an exhibit one spends time with, discovering new things the longer one looks. For instance, upon first glance at her painting “Vanish,” I was immediately captivated by the depth of the dark blue ice caps, contrasted with the light of the gray sky. However, after going through the exhibit a second time, I noticed the image of an eye peering back at me through those same ice caps.
Walking out of the museum, I realized how much New York has to offer right at our fingertips. It’s easy to fall into routines on campus, but the city is filled with opportunities to learn, explore and be inspired. For first-year students especially: Don’t let these opportunities slip by. Take a bus, walk a few blocks and go see something new. Take advantage of student discounts, resident rates and the chance to experience something extraordinary. And before the end of November comes, make sure to step into the Modern and Contemporary Art galleries at the Met and see “Source Notes.”
Photo Caption: Lorna Simpson’s work “True Value”
Photo Credit: Keira Kahn
