Laurie Simmons

Laurie Simmons is a photographer and filmmaker who unearths cultural restrictions within patriarchal, capitalist society. In the 1970s, Simmons began photographing uncanny domestic scenes of dolls in doll houses. Cropped in a cinematic fashion, the figures would lay bountiful meals on the table or tidy messy interiors, all whilst maintaining perfect hair dos, creaseless dresses and trim figures. Building on Simmons’s own upbringing in post-war suburban America, these stylised images exposed the artificiality of heightened gender stereotypes that proliferated in this period. During this era, Simmons became associated with The Pictures Generation and other artists such as Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger and Louise Lawler who were similarly using photography and image manipulation to lay bare the violence of cultural tropes. Simmons’s Walking Objects (1987-1991) series, tackled sexism and its entanglement with consumerism. In these surreal photos, inanimate objects such as globes, toilets and guns strutted and danced around, posing with toned legs in black stilettos. Referencing the loss of agency in capitalist society, these works heighten the bleak realities of consumer-oriented society. Simmons continues to make inquisitive, surreal films and photographic series which digest the intricacies of contemporary gender representation. ...

Amanda Wilkinson opened her gallery in November 2017, having been a partner in Wilkinson Gallery, and brought with her the artists that she had worked with since 2003. Most of these internationally renowned artists had their first solo UK exhibition at the gallery: Joan Jonas and Shimabuku in 2004, Sung Hwan Kim in 2007, Jimmy DeSana in 2009, and Laurie Simmons in 2011. The program has also introduced younger artists such as Heman Chong, Phoebe Unwin, Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė all of whom have solo exhibitions in public institutions this year. Amanda Wilkinson is a trustee of the Derek Jarman Estate and is the sole gallery who represents the work. The program continues to highlight key historical artists who are little known to the wider art world, including Paolo Gioli, Ketty La Rocca and Margaret Raspé and will introduce new artists to the program in 2020 in keeping with the gallery’s experimental and cross-generational approach. The gallery has presented four Feature booths at ArtBasel in the past , featuring six artists from the program. Eight out of the twelve artists represented by the gallery had solo museum exhibitions in 2019/2020. ...