The Milwaukee Art Museum is originating an exhibition of work by New York-based photographer Taryn Simon beginning Sept. 22.
"Taryn Simon: Photographs and Texts" runs Sept. 22, through Jan. 1, 2012. It then travels to the Moscow Multimedia Art Museum through Feb. 19, and finally to the Helsinki Art Museum through May 6.
Simon’s photographs and writings, the result of a long process of research and investigation, present an array of visual and verbal information.
The exhibition, "Taryn Simon: Photographs and Texts," is an overview of three major projects Simon executed between 2002 and 2010. Displayed together, they underscore the invisible space between language and the visual world. It's a space in which translation and disorientation continually occur.
The first Taryn project included in the exhibit is "Innocents." Created in 2002, "Innocents" questions photography’s function as a credible eyewitness and arbiter of justice through portraits of individuals who were convicted of violent crimes they did not commit.
"An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar," created in 2007, comprises photographs and texts revealing objects and sites that are integral to America’s foundation, mythology, or daily functioning but remain inaccessible or unknown to the public.
The final project included in the exhibition, "Contraband," created in 2010, consists of 1,075 images depicting items detained or seized from passengers entering the United States from abroad over a five-day period, indexed and installed according to their official classification.
Simon's photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including solo shows at: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and the 54th Venice Biennale. Her photography and writing have been featured in numerous publications and broadcasts including the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, Ted.com, CNN, BBC, and Frontline.
