Collection Artwork
A three-part miniature house with a life-size pair of bare legs extending from one side. White slippers on the feet contrast against the black floor and gray background.
Laurie Simmons (born Far Rockaway, New York, 1949)
Lying Objects (House)
1992
offset lithograph on Lexus Satin paper
Editions Ilene Kurtz (born New York, New York)
image size: 9 1/4 x 14 in.
paper size (approximate): 10 x 15 in.
frame size: 16 7/8 x 21 3/4 x 1 1/8 in.
Gift of Charles Hayward and Betsy Senior
2012.12
edition of 50

Object Label

Artifice (seen here and opposite, in Wendy Red Star’s Four Seasons) is a powerful photographic tool that challenges what is real, what is fake, and where those spaces intersect. By playing with dolls and props in surrealistic ways, Laurie Simmons reconsiders our relationship to objects. What lurks behind the surface of the shiny veneers of our belongings? How do we use objects to define our identities? What do we allow to stand in for ourselves?

From the exhibition: Give a damn. (June 30 – September 30, 2018)

Ongoing Research

Research on our collection is ongoing. If you have resources you’d like to share, please contact Associate Curator Rebecca McNamara.

Tang Collective Catalog


When I first saw Lying Objects (House), my eyes were drawn to a pair of brightly lit doll legs with white ballet slippers emerging from what appears to be a miniature house. But the absence of the rest of her person left me wondering: is the overbearing presence of the house more significant than the woman’s story?⁠ ⁠ The staged composition against the plain surroundings beckon the idea of a movie set. Shadows cast on the house and the vast, dark floor create an eerie effect, eliciting uncertainty and reminding me of an empty suburban street. The woman is nearly enveloped, yet she is larger than the house. Could she stand up at any moment and dismantle the entire structure?
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