MPB Meets: Interdisciplinary Artist Photographer Xaviera Simmons

Xaviera Simmons is an interdisciplinary artist who lives and works in New York. Her series Sundown (2018–) and Index (2008–) were exhibited—alongside three video works—at the 2021 Liverpool Biennial.

Simmons was exposed to art from an early age and had access to New York’s major museums and art institutions as she grew up. Her work is rooted within the art historical canon, which she combines with socio-political commentary. She has developed a multi-layered visual language that investigates the past to engage with present and future histories—particularly, matters relating to the legacies of slavery, racial justice and the inequalities of the system—while simultaneously pushing forward conversations around artmaking in general. She considers art to be a powerful language and urges people “to get more courageous in our language if we actually want to change things”.

Simmons has been working on both Sundown and Index for a long time. Although distinct, the series share some common ground. “They’re looking at contemporary colour photography and also historical photography, they look at ways that photography can change through sculptural practices,” Simmons explains. “They both prompt conversations about archival research, and about building and owning an archival research practice, and about constructing anew from those things in the archive.”

As John Berger argues, archival images “present a direct testimony about the world which surrounded other people at other times”. But when such images are placed in conversation with contemporary photographs, a multiplicity of discourses come into play.

At MPB, we’re proud to champion photography as an art form for everyone. We partner with Photoworks, the international online platform providing opportunities for artists and audiences since 1995. Photoworks is a registered charity in the UK, supported by public funding through Arts Council England’s National Portfolio.

Read more interviews, including Photoworks' interview with portrait photographer Luo Yang, on the MPB content hub.