The artwork titled “Backdrops Circa 1940,” created by artist Lorna Simpson in 1998, belongs to the art movements of Postcolonial art and Conceptual Art. This piece, which falls under the genre of photograph, offers an evocative exploration of historical and cultural contexts.
The artwork presents two black and white images side by side, each depicting scenes set against celestial-themed backdrops. On the left, a woman is posed against a crescent moon adorned with stars. She is dressed in a white outfit, and the backdrop evokes a nostalgic reference to vintage studio photography. On the right, part of a stage performance scene is captured, punctuated with numerous small white dots mimicking stars, and a figure gesturing with a raised hand, perhaps mid-motion. Both images exude a sense of historical narrative, touching upon themes of identity, memory, and representation within the African American experience. The juxtaposition of these images allows the viewer to contemplate the interconnectedness of past and present, reality and artifice.
