Taryn Simon

Biography

Born in New York, where she lives and works, Taryn Simon received a BA in semi­otics from Brown Uni­ver­si­ty in 1997. In 2001 she was award­ed a Guggen­heim Fel­low­ship for what would become her first major pho­to­graph­ic and tex­tu­al work: The Inno­cents (2002), which was exhib­it­ed at MoMA PS 1. Doc­u­ment­ing cas­es of wrong­ful con­vic­tion in the Unit­ed States, The Inno­cents calls into ques­tion photography’s func­tion as a cred­i­ble eye­wit­ness and arbiter of justice.

Simon’s work directs our atten­tion to famil­iar sys­tems of organ­i­sa­tion – blood­lines, crim­i­nal inves­ti­ga­tions, flower arrange­ments – mak­ing vis­i­ble the con­tours of pow­er and author­i­ty hid­den with­in. Incor­po­rat­ing medi­ums rang­ing from pho­tog­ra­phy and sculp­ture to text, sound, and per­for­mance, each of her projects is shaped by years of rig­or­ous research and plan­ning, includ­ing obtain­ing access from insti­tu­tions as var­ied as the US Depart­ment of Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Play­boy Enter­pris­es, Inc.

Simon has exhib­it­ed exten­sive­ly through­out the world. Her work is includ­ed in notable pub­lic col­lec­tions, includ­ing the Muse­um of Mod­ern Art, the Met­ro­pol­i­tan Muse­um of Art, and the Whit­ney Muse­um of Amer­i­can Art, New York, USA; Los Ange­les Coun­ty Muse­um of Art, USA; Smith­son­ian Amer­i­can Art Muse­um, Wash­ing­ton D.C., USA; Tate Col­lec­tions, UK; Nation­al Gallery of Cana­da, Ottawa, Cana­da; Muse­um für Mon­derne Kun­st, Frank­furt, Ger­many; Helsin­ki Art Muse­um, Helsin­ki, Fin­land; Garage Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary Art, Moscow, Rus­sia; Cen­tre Georges Pom­pi­dou, Paris, France; Auck­land Art Gallery, New Zealand; and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Syd­ney, Australia.

Exhibitions
Available Works

Taryn Simon

Ani­mal Corpses (Pro­hib­it­ed), Ani­mal Parts (Pro­hib­it­ed), Ani­mal Skele­tons (Pro­hib­it­ed), But­ter­flies (Pro­hib­it­ed), Snails (Pro­hib­it­ed), 2010
15 archival inkjet prints in 6 Plex­i­glas boxes
Box 1: 23.557.86.4 cm; Box 2: 23.576.26.4 cm; Box 3, 4: 23.557.86.4 cm; Box 5, 6: 23.5216.4 cm

Taryn Simon

Duck Tongue (Pro­hib­it­ed), Duck Misc. (Pro­hib­it­ed), 2010
11 archival inkjet prints in 3 Plex­i­glas boxes
Box 1, 2: 23.576.26.4 cm; Box 3: 23.557.86.4 cm

Taryn Simon

Deer Antlers (Pro­hib­it­ed), Deer Penis (Pro­hib­it­ed), Deer Tongue (Pro­hib­it­ed), 2010
8 archival inkjet prints in 4 Plex­i­glas boxes
Box 1: 23.576.26.4 cm; Box 2: 23.520.956.4 cm; Box 3: 23.539.46.4 cm; Box 4: 23.520.956.4 cm

Taryn Simon

Erec­tile Dis­func­tion Medication/​Cialis & Via­gra (Coun­ter­feit), 2010
12 archival inkjet prints in 2 Plex­i­glas boxes
Box 1, 2: 23.51136.4 cm

Taryn Simon

Cashier’s Checks (Coun­ter­feit), Checks (Coun­ter­feit), Mon­ey Orders (Coun­ter­feit), Traveler’s Cheques (Coun­ter­feit), 2010
27 archival inkjet prints in 5 Plex­i­glas boxes
Box 1: 23.557.8 cm; Box 2: 23.576.2 cm; Box 3, 5: 23.5131.4 cm; Box 4: 23.5113 cm

Taryn Simon

Fat (Pro­hib­it­ed), 2010
5 archival inkjet prints in 1 Plex­i­glas box
23.594.66.4 cm

Taryn Simon

Footwear (Nike, Counterfeit), 2010
6 archival inkjet prints in 1 Plex­i­glas box
23.51136.4 cm

Taryn Simon

GBL, Com­po­nent of Date Rape Drug (Ille­gal), 2010
3 archival inkjet prints in 1 Plex­i­glas box
23.557.86.4 cm

Taryn Simon

Sausages (Pro­hib­it­ed), 2010
27 archival inkjet prints in 5 Plex­i­glas boxes
Box 1: 23.576.26.4 cm; Box 2: 23.594.66.4 cm; Box 3, 4, 5: 23.51136.4 cm

Taryn Simon

Watch­es (Coun­ter­feit), 2010
17 archival inkjet prints in 3 Plex­i­glas boxes
Box 1, 2: 23.51136.4 cm; Box 3: 23.594.76.4 cm

Taryn Simon

Khat (Ille­gal), 2010
40 archival inkjet prints in 7 Plex­i­glas boxes
Box 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6: 23.51136.4 cm; Box 7: 23.576.26.4 cm