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Lorna Simpson’s Double Portrait, a silkscreen print on two felt panels, which overall measure 34-1/2” X 40”, is a continuation of the artist’s recent collage series based on advertisements found in Ebony and Jet magazines from the 1930s through 1970s. Simpson regards these publications as important archives of American life. In the work, the portraits of two women taken from an Ebony advertisement are printed as a silkscreen on panels of felt, and make reference to the before and after shots found within many magazines of the time. In the ad, the women act out two versions of emotional state, much in the way that performers bring characters to life every night on Lincoln Center stages.
Double Portrait is the first work from Simpson’s current collage series to be printed on felt, a material which the artist has experimented with since the mid-1990s. Working with master printer Luther Davis of Axelle Editions, Simpson created a silkscreen which resembles a watercolor, collage and print, all on starched and pressed felt.
