Lorna Simpson, major solo show at Punta della Dogana in Venice
Published on 08/24/2026 at 13:49 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Lorna Simpson anchors Punta della Dogana’s 2026 program in Venice with the expansive solo exhibition Lorna Simpson. Third Person. As the Pinault Collection confirms, the show runs from March 29, 2026 to November 22, 2026 and marks the most significant presentation of her work in Europe in more than a decade. Pinault Collection exhibition page
The Venice solo exhibition frame
At Punta della Dogana, Lorna Simpson. Third Person brings together around fifty works, including paintings, collages, sculptures, installations and film, drawn from the Pinault Collection, private collections, international institutions and Simpson’s own archive. Pinault Collection exhibition page
The exhibition is curated by Emma Lavigne, general director and curator of the Pinault Collection, in close collaboration with Lorna Simpson and organized in partnership with The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which presented an earlier version titled Lorna Simpson: Source Notes in spring 2025. Metropolitan Museum press release
How the 2026 show extends her exhibition history
The Venice exhibition focuses on Simpson’s painting practice over more than ten years, notably series such as Ice, Special Characters and Earth and Sky, which have previously appeared in institutional contexts including her 2015 Venice Biennale presentation and the Met’s 2025 survey. Met exhibition overview
Alongside these paintings, the Punta della Dogana show reconnects Simpson’s recent work to her earlier conceptual photography, situating the new canvases within a longer investigation into how images are constructed, fragmented and made unreliable, especially around Black identity and memory. Artlovers exhibition description
All news and background on Lorna Simpson
Further reporting at AD HOC NEWS traces how Lorna Simpson’s exhibition history, market presence and museum holdings interlock around key series such as Ice, Special Characters and Earth and Sky.
The core of Simpson’s practice
Lorna Simpson works primarily across conceptual photography, text-based image pieces and, over the last decade, large-scale painting that often overlays archival imagery with atmospheric fields of ice, weather and cosmic matter. Her New York-based studio practice has progressively integrated collage, sculpture and film into this expanded image vocabulary. Artist studio exhibitions overview
Where the artist stands now
With Lorna Simpson. Third Person on view at Punta della Dogana in Venice through November 22, 2026, Simpson’s painting-led practice presently occupies a central institutional position in Europe for the current season.
Key facts on Lorna Simpson
- Artist: Lorna Simpson
- Medium / Genre: Conceptual photography and mixed-media painting
- Born: 1960, Brooklyn, New York, USA
- Place(s) of practice: Studio in New York City
- Active since: 1980s, with wider recognition from solo shows in the late 1980s and early 1990s
- Key work groups: Ice, Special Characters, Earth and Sky, Wigs (New Museum Configuration)
- Current/last exhibition: Lorna Simpson. Third Person, Punta della Dogana - Pinault Collection, Venice, March 29, 2026 to November 22, 2026
- Major collections: Museum of Modern Art (New York), Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), Tate (London), Centre Pompidou (Paris), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco)
- Awards: Hugo Boss Prize nomination 1998; Solomon R. Guggenheim Fellowship 1990; public recognition through inclusion in major biennials rather than headline awards
- Next date: Exhibition Lorna Simpson. Third Person ongoing at Punta della Dogana, Venice, through November 22, 2026
Frequently asked questions about Lorna Simpson
Where can Lorna Simpson’s work be seen in Europe in 2026?
In 2026, Lorna Simpson’s major European presence is the solo exhibition Lorna Simpson. Third Person at Punta della Dogana - Pinault Collection in Venice, running from March 29 to November 22, 2026.
How does the Venice show relate to Lorna Simpson’s Met exhibition Source Notes?
The Venice exhibition is organized in partnership with The Metropolitan Museum of Art and extends the 2025 New York survey Lorna Simpson: Source Notes, focusing on more than a decade of her painting practice.
Which key series by Lorna Simpson feature in the Punta della Dogana exhibition?
The Venice show includes emblematic series such as Ice, Special Characters and Earth and Sky, alongside collages, sculptures, installations and film works that build on her long-standing conceptual approach to photography and text.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
