Jane Simpson (b.1965, Watford) lives and works in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Simpson is most known for her both elegant and uncanny sculptures that transform familiar objects, bringing a magical quality to quotidian, functional and domestic objects such as cooking utensils, sewing machines, teacups and vases. By re-making and fabricating these items in diverse and unexpected materials such as ceramic, porcelain, lustreware, Tupperware, rubber, and even refrigeration units and ice, Simpson’s practice playfully re-envisions the traditional art historical style of still life to ask poignant, poetic and subversive questions surrounding how objects carry meaning in daily life. Her interest in the careful arrangement of such vessels – often with pared-back colours and forms – has been placed in the lineage of artists including Giorgio Morandi (an important influence), William Bailey and Joseph Cornell. In 2014, Jane Simpson founded Galerie Simpson Artists (now GS Artists), a non-profit project based in Swansea with a mission focusing on promoting and supporting young creative talent in Wales.
Simpson graduated from the Chelsea School of Art in 1988, followed by an MA from the Royal Academy of Art in 1993. Significant solo exhibitions include A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, Four All Saints, London (2011); My Inheritance and Other Blood Tales, Gering & López Gallery, New York (2008); A Three Way Conversation with Myself, New Art Centre Sculpture Park & Gallery, Roche Court, Wiltshire, UK (2005); Tableau, Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Malaga, Spain (2004); and Fresh, Fresher (publication and exhibition), Gagosian, London (2002). Notable group exhibitions include Sensation: Young British Artists From The Saatchi Collection, curated by Norman Rosenthal, Royal Academy, London (1997); and Some Went Mad, Some Ran Away, curated by Damien Hirst, Serpentine Galleries, London (1994). Simpson’s work is held in many public and private collections including Tate, UK; Saatchi Collection, London; Arts Council Collection, UK; Damien Hirst’s Murderme Collection, UK; Contemporary Art Society, London; British Council Collection, UK; CAC Málaga, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Spain; and the Colección Ciudad de Pamplona, Spain.
