Arthur Simms Builds a Web of Cultural Identity

Arthur Simms, ‘Arthur Simms: Chair with my Hair’, 2024, installation view. Courtesy: LOK – Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland

For Édouard Glissant, the Martinican philosopher and poet, the archipelago wasn’t merely a unique geographical formation but a metaphor for understanding identity, culture and human relationships. This perspective comes alive in the works of New York-based Jamaican artist Arthur Simms, whose creations are currently on view at Kunstmuseum St. Gallen in Switzerland. The exhibition, titled ‘Chair with my Hair’, echoes Glissant’s vision of the Caribbean archipelago, highlighting the intricate dance between roots – our connection to cultural heritage and history – and routes: the paths of movement, exploration and cultural exchange.

Arthur Simms, Chair with my Hair, 2024, artist's hair, chair, glue, stones, cans, toys, wood, wire, rope, strap and light bulb, 2.3 × 1.2 × 1.8 m. Courtesy: LOK – Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland

A signature element in Simms’s oeuvre since the 1980s is his own hair. Laden with symbolism, it represents roots in both a literal and figurative sense. The hair in his works, such as the titular Chair with my Hair (2024) – a small square of black hair on a modest school chair, mounted on a child’s sledge and set on a pair of wooden beams between two large blocks of crushed aluminium cans – acts as a genetic signature, directly linking his practice to his African heritage. This symbol of pride and identity is problematized in works like A Day, One Halo (2020), where Simms intertwines his hair with the auburn locks of his wife, the US painter Lucy Fradkin, creating a visual metaphor for the blending of cultures and identities.

(read the rest of this article at frieze.com)