Taryn Simon An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar

For this project, artist Taryn Simon assumes the dual role of shrewd informant and collector of curiosities, compiling an inventory of what lies hidden and out-of-view within the borders of the United States. She examines a culture through careful documentation of diverse subjects from 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. Her sometimes ethereal, sometimes foreboding compositions, shot with a large-format view camera whenever conditions allowed, vary as much as her subject matter, which ranges from radioactive capsules at a nuclear waste storage facility to a black bear in hibernation. Offering visions of the unseen, the photographs of An American Index capture the strange magic at the foundation of a national identity.

Taryn Simon was born in New York in 1975. She is a graduate of Brown University and a Guggenheim Fellow. Her influential project, 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 solo shows at: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt/Main. 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.

An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, is published by Steidl and includes a foreword by Salman Rushdie, introduction by Elizabeth Sussman and Tina Kukielski and commentary by Ronald Dworkin.

Pour ce projet, Taryn Simon endosse le double rôle d’informateur averti et de collectionneuse de curiosités, dressant un inventaire de ce qui se dissimule à la marge de l’Amérique. C’est par une documentation minitieuse sur divers sujets touchant à la science, au gouvernement, à la médecine, à l’industrie du divertissement, à la nature, à la sécurité et à la religion, qu’elle se livre à un examen de la culture américaine. En conférant à l’inconnu une forme intelligible et séduisante, Taryn Simon s’attaque au fossé qui sépare ceux qui possèdent le privilège de l’accès au savoir et ceux qui en sont dépourvus. Ses compositions parfois éthérées, parfois inquiétantes, prises avec un appareil photo grand format quand les conditions le permettent, sont aussi variées que leur objet, allant des capsules de déchets radioactifs dans un site de retraitement à un ours noir en hibernation. Permettant de voir ce qui d’ordinaire n’est pas visible, les photographies d’An American Index capturent la magie étrange qui permet à une identité nationale de se forger.

Taryn Simon est née à New York en 1975. Diplômée de la Brown University, elle a été lauréate d’une bourse Guggenheim. Son projet The Innocents, à l’influence majeure, rassemble les portraits de victimes d’erreurs judiciaires aux États-Unis et propose une réflexion sur le rôle de la photographie dans sa démarche. Les photos de Taryn Simon ont été exposées aux États-Unis et en Europe, y compris lors d’expositions individuelles dans les lieux suivants : le Whitney Museum of American Art, New York ; le Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin ; le P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York ; le High Museum of Art, Atlanta ; et enfin le Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK), Francfort. On a parlé de ses photographies et de ses textes dans de nombreux magazines et émissions de télévision, dont le New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, CNN, la BBC, Frontline et NPR.

An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar est publié chez Steidl et comporte un avant-propos signé par Salman Rushdie, une introduction rédigée par Elizabeth Sussman et Tina Kukielski, ainsi que des commentaires par Ronald Dworkin.

For this project, artist Taryn Simon assumes the dual role of shrewd informant and collector of curiosities, compiling an inventory of what lies hidden and out-of-view within the borders of the United States. She examines a culture through careful documentation of diverse subjects from 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. Her sometimes ethereal, sometimes foreboding compositions, shot with a large-format view camera whenever conditions allowed, vary as much as her subject matter, which ranges from radioactive capsules at a nuclear waste storage facility to a black bear in hibernation. Offering visions of the unseen, the photographs of An American Index capture the strange magic at the foundation of a national identity.

Taryn Simon was born in New York in 1975. She is a graduate of Brown University and a Guggenheim Fellow. Her influential project, 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 solo shows at: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt/Main. 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.

An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, is published by Steidl and includes a foreword by Salman Rushdie, introduction by Elizabeth Sussman and Tina Kukielski and commentary by Ronald Dworkin.