Laurie Simmons (born October 3, 1949) is an American artist, photographer and filmmaker. Since the mid-1970s, Simmons has staged scenes for her camera with dolls, ventriloquist dummies, objects on legs, and people, to create photographs that reference domestic scenes. She is part of The Pictures Generation, a name given to a group of artists who came to prominence in the 1970s. The Pictures Generation also includes Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, and Louise Lawler.
Table of Contents
- 1 Early life
- 2 Personal life
- 3 Career
- 3.1 Photography
- 3.2 Film
- 3.3 Fashion
- 3.4 Laurie Simmons: The Love Doll (BALDWIN GALLERY)
- 3.5 Laurie Simmons: Walking, Talking, Lying (signed edition)
- 3.6 Laurie Simmons: Big Camera/Little Camera
- 3.7 Laurie Simmons
- 3.8 Laurie Simmons: Color Coordinated Interiors 1983
- 3.9 The sound of silence: Linda Yablonsky on Laurie Simmons's The Music of Regret.: An article from: Artforum International
- 3.10 LAURENCE OLIVIER JEAN SIMMONS JOHN LAURIE HAMLET 8X10 PHOTO #E4504
- 3.11 Sarah Charlesworth: Doubleworld (NEW MUSEUM)
- 3.12 Cups And Saucers Set Of 4 By Laurie Simmons
- 3.13 Laurie Simmons - The Music of Regret
Early life
Simmons was born in Long Island, New York, the daughter of Dorothy “Dot” Simmons, a housewife, and Samuel Ira “Sam” Simmons, a dentist. Her parents were both Jewish and she was raised in a Jewish community.
Simmons acknowledged a BFA from Tyler School of Art in 1971.
Personal life
Simmons lives and works in New York City and Cornwall, Connecticut similar to her husband, painter Carroll Dunham. They have two children, actress and writer Lena Dunham and writer/activist Cyrus Grace Dunham.
Career
Photography
Film
In 2006, Simmons made her first film, The Music of Regret. The film is thought to be an further explanation of her photographs, bringing her objects to moving picture by involving musicians, professional puppeteers, Alvin Ailey dancers, Hollywood cinematographer Ed Lachman, and actress Meryl Streep. This three-act musical creates a narrative amid iconic objects found in her photographs.
Simmons starred in a feature-length film by her daughter Lena Dunham, called Tiny Furniture, which was filmed in 2009 and was featured at the South by Southwest film festival in 2010. Simmons’ character, Siri, was based loosely upon herself. The film won various awards in 2010, including the Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature, the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s New Generation Awards, and the Sarasota Film Festival’s Independent Visions Award. It was nominated for Gotham Awards for best Ensemble Performance, and Breakthrough Director.
Fashion
In 2008, Simmons collaborated bearing in mind the designer Thakoon Panichgul to Make fabrics for his Spring 2009 line. The pattern featured a variation on Simmons’ series “Walking & Lying Objects” from the late eighties, which energetic various objects that are animated later than legs in every second positions. The fabric for Thakoon’s pedigree was based upon legs paired in the same way as a rose.
Simmons also collaborated as soon as Peter Jensen upon his 2010 spring collection. Jensen photographed models in poses directed by Simmons based on images from fashion magazines in the ’60s and ’70s. The resulting photographs were then clip into paper dolls, dressed in a miniature bank account of Jensen’s spring collection, and placed inside Simmons’ typical dollhouse tableaus. The collection of photographs was released for London Fashion Week 2009.
Last update 2021-08-06