Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo), Maria, 2014. Photograph by Kate Russell. Image courtesy of the artist
de Young Museum
Rose B. Simpson: LEXICON
This exhibition brings together two seemingly distinct art forms: Pueblo pottery and classic cars. In 2014, Rose B. Simpson, a mixed-media artist from Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, refurbished a 1985 Chevy El Camino, transforming it with a black-on-black Tewa pottery motif. Simpson titled her work Maria in honor of renowned artist Maria Martinez (San Ildefonso Pueblo, 1887–1980), who popularized the distinctive black-on-black style. Ten years later, this exhibition debuts Simpson’s second customized car, Bosque, a 1964 Buick Riviera painted in vibrant polychrome. Both cars are presented against an expansive geometric design, evoking the environment of the Southwest and transforming Wilsey Court into a bold, contemporary expression of Pueblo pottery traditions. Through this use of scale and space, Simpson forges connections between the ancestral and contemporary, and forms a new visual vocabulary, or lexicon, to assert her cultural heritage and its continuity.
Generous Support Bettina S. Bryant Paul Burns Holly Johnson and Parker Harris Jack Shainman Gallery Jessica Silverman Katie and Matt Paige Laura Scher and Ian Altman Gwynned Vitello
Additional support is provided in memory of Mary Beth Hagey and by Joachim Bechtle and Hannah Strobel, Wanda Kownacki, Jan and Bob Newman, and Paul Traina and Deb Dauber.