Gary Simmons

After leaving Cal Arts in 1990, Gary Simmons (born 1964) moved to New York and set up his studio in a former school building where he found himself clearing away blackboards to make space for his sculpture. Soon after, Simmons began his first series of chalk drawings on blackboards. It was this work, focusing on the development of racial, class and cultural identities through cartoon imagery, which paved the way for his signature "erasure" technique. While Simmons, who has often defined himself as a sculptor, is widely known for the erasure drawings, he has consistently worked across media. This overview of Simmons's 20-plus year career brings together for the first time his photographs, installations, public projects, sculpture, drawings and paintings. Alongside approximately 150 plates, Paradise includes an in-depth interview with Okwui Enwezor, critical essays by Gwen Allen and Charles Wylie and a reprint of an important early text by Nancy Princenthal.