Gary Simmons creates large-scale works that portray figures and themes from historical American iconography. Many of his subjects are symbolically loaded with themes of race and class. His well-known “erasure” series consists of white chalk drawings that he has smeared with his hands to eerie effect. By choosing chalk and slate-painted panels as his medium, he recalls school blackboards, calling attention to the limitations and failings of the American educational system; the series serves to erase and redraw the lines of power. The “erasure” of racial iconography also suggests America’s own propensity to gloss over its history of racial divide. In this way, Simmons both recognizes and criticizes America’s dark past.

 Gary Simmons was born in New York, where he still lives. His work is in the permanent collections of the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C., the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the MCA Chicago, the Walker Art Center, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and elsewhere. He is represented by Metro Pictures Gallery in New York, Simon Lee Gallery in London, Regen Projects in Los Angeles, and Anthony Meier Gallery in San Francisco.

For a complete list of available prints with price information please contact The Bott Collection.