13 September – 11 November 2007
This exhibition is the first UK showing of Taryn Simon’s latest project, An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, a culmination of four years extensive research and documenting of the unseen and inaccessible hidden below the surface of national identity.
For this project Simon assumes the dual role of shrewd informant and collector of curiosities, compiling an inventory of what lies inaccessible, hidden and out-of-view within the borders of the United States. She examines a culture through careful documentation of diverse subjects from across the realms of science, government, medicine, entertainment, nature, security, and religion. Transforming the unknown into a seductive and intelligible form, Simon confronts the divide between those with and without the privilege of access.
Taryn Simon's elegant but unsentimental images identify her as a central figure within a new generation of American photographers.
This exhibition continues the Gallery’s commitment to showcasing new talent and highlighting the best of international photographic practice to audiences in the UK.
An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar by Taryn Simon is a collaboration with the Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
The publication An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, is published by Steidl and will be available from the Gallery Bookshop. It includes a forword by Salman Rushdie, introduction by Elizabeth Sussman and Tina Kukielski and commentary by Ronald Dworkin. ISBN: 978-3775735063
Taryn Simon was born in New York in 1975. She is a graduate of Brown University and a Guggenheim Fellow. Her highly acclaimed and influential work, The Innocents, documents cases of wrongful conviction in the United States and investigates photography’s role in that process. Simon’s photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including: High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; Haus Der Kunst, Munich; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati; and Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin. Permanent collections include: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Her photography and writing have been featured in numerous publications and broadcasts including The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, CNN, BBC, Frontline, and NPR. Simon has been a visiting artist at institutions including: Yale University, Bard College, Columbia University, School of Visual Arts and Parsons School of Design. She is represented by Gagosian Gallery.
Shown alongside this exhibition, the digital project In Focus: Web Search: Photography and Politics features a selection of photographs that appear when the words 'photography + politics' are typed into a website search engine.
For further information on this and past exhibitions, visit our Archive and Study Room.
