Arthur Simms
Arthur Simms (b. 1961, Saint Andrew, Jamaica) is an artist based in Staten Island, New York, whose human-scale assemblage sculptures radiate with poeticism and spirituality. Simms’s sculptures are sourced from found and natural materials, and are often bound with rope or wire. Likewise, his work binds together traditions and modern art historical trajectories: Surrealism’s uses of automatism and disjunction, as well as its reliance on the unconscious, are merged with the folk cultures of Jamaica, America, and Haiti. The resulting entanglements, constructed from materials such as bedsprings, empty bottles, bicycles, and worn-out toys, resonate with narratives of belonging, playfulness, and psychic energy. Simms’s sculpture, rather than feeling like an intervention in space, seems to appear spontaneously, as if by magic, like a creation preordained.
Simms’s work was included in the Kingston Biennial in 2022, the Venice Biennale in 2019, and the inaugural Jamaica Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2001. Simms’s site-specific installations include a floating sculpture displayed on Staten Island’s waterfront in 2018 and a large-scale work in Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens, New York in 1994. His work is held in the collections of the Aïshti Foundation, Beirut; Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC; Museum Brandhorst, Germany; Neuberger Museum of Art, Harrison, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, among others.
Arthur Simms in his studio. Photo by Charles Benton
Born 1961, Saint Andrew, Jamaica
Lives in New York
EDUCATION
1993
MFA, Brooklyn College, New York
1987
BA, Brooklyn College, New York
SELECTED SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2026
RX&SLAG, Paris (forthcoming)
Karma, New York, Caged Bottle
2024
High Line, New York, A Totem for the High Line
Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland, Chair With My Hair, Works by Arthur Simms
Martos Gallery, New York, Icema’s World
2023
Karma, Los Angeles, The Miracle of Burano
Martos Gallery, Thomas Dane Gallery, and Karma, Basel, Art Basel Unlimited
San Carlo Cremona, Italy, I Am The Bush Doctor, One Halo
2022
Martos After Dark, New York, Night Fever, One Halo
Martos Gallery, New York, And I Say, Brother Had A Very Good Day, One Halo
2019
Shoot the Lobster, New York, Throughline
Slag Gallery, New York, The Big Picture, One Halo, Sculptures, and Drawings by Arthur Simms
2016
Dorsky Gallery, New York, Different Roads—Same Destination: Assemblage Sculptures of Randy Wray and Arthur Simms
2014
Holter Museum of Art, Helena, Montana, Lucy Fradkin and Arthur Simms: Intimate Worlds
2011
Amelie A. Wallace Gallery at SUNY Old Westbury, New York, Dreamcatchers: Sculptures by Hyong Nam Ahn and Arthur Simms
2010
Peg Alston Fine Arts, New York, Arthur Simms, Two Thousand and Ten
2009
Clark Gallery, Lincoln, Massachusetts, Arthur Simms
2008
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Process Room
Art in the Parks, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York, Celebrating 40 Years 1967–2007
2007
Lesley Heller Gallery, New York, Arthur Simms Sculpture and Drawings
2006
Westchester Community College Art Gallery, New York, Arthur Simms, Sculptures and Drawings
2005
FiveMyles, New York, Arthur Simms, Sculptures and Drawings 1989–2005
2004
Kenise Barnes Fine Arts, Larchmont, New York, Roman Holiday: New Work From A Year Spent In Rome, Lucy Fradkin and Arthur Simms
2003
Lavori Italiani, Italia Inghilterra, Cagliari, Italy, Lucy Fradkin e Arthur Simms
Temple University Gallery, Rome, Arthur Simms and Jonathan Hynd
2001
Peg Alston Fine Arts, New York, Drawings, Arthur Simms
2000
Sideshow Gallery, New York, Arthur Simms And Garry Nichols
York College Art Gallery, New York, Arthur Simms, Assemblage Of The Spirit
1992
Philippe Briet Gallery, New York, Sculptures
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
WSA, New York, Duet, curated by Kyle DeWoody and Zoe Lukov
National Academy of Design, New York, Past as Prologue: A Historical Acknowledgment, Part II
2024
Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica in collaboration with Aïshti Foundation, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, Day for Night: New American Realism, curated by Massimiliano Gioni and Flaminia Gennari Santori
2022
CANADA, New York, Charismatic Gods
Thomas Dane Gallery, Naples, Italy, Mettere Al Mondo
Industry City, New York, Singing in Unison: Artists Need to Create on the Same Scale that Society Has the Capacity to Destroy Part Seven
Sculpture Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Nature Doesn’t Know About Us, curated by Ugo Rondinone
Ricco/Maresca, New York, Singing in Unison, Part 4
Scully Tomasko Foundation, New York, Singing in Unsion, Part 2
Below Grand, New York, Singing in Unison, Part 3
Katzen Arts Center at American University, Washington, DC, Caribbean Transitions
American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts
White Columns, New York, Looking Back / The 12th White Columns Annual, selected by Mary Manning
LA Louver, Venice Beach, California, SeenUNseen
2021
Martos Gallery, New York, Lost & Found
2020
Gallery MC, New York, STILL UTOPIA: ISLANDS
2019
Staten Island, New York, Sonic Gates: New York City’s Sculpture Walk
2018
AC Institute, New York, To Break the Ocean
Central Park, New York, It’s Happening! Celebrating 50 Years of Public Art in NYC Parks
2016
Field Projects Gallery, New York, Excavations
2015
Amelie A. Wallace Gallery at SUNY Old Westbury, New York, ARS Continuum: Amelie A. Wallace Gallery 1978 to the Present
Junior Projects, New York, Rock Hound Swap Meet
Chen Art Gallery at Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, Working in NYC: 27 Artists
2014
Athens School Of Art, Greece, The Rule of the Law and the Right to be Human
Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, Recontextualizing the Found
2013
Industry City, New York, Come Together: Surviving Sandy, Year 1
American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts
2012
Firehouse Center, Damariscotta, Maine, Lois Dodd and Her Students
Swan Hill Museum of Contemporary Art, Hyogo, Japan, Nozomi Rose with 8 Artists from New York
2011
Rockland Center For the Arts, New York, Toy Story
Castle Gallery at the College of New Rochelle, New York, Toward a Philosophy of the Everyday
L.C. Bates Museum, Hinckley, Maine, Drawing From the Collection
Clark Gallery, Lincoln, Massachusetts, Rock / Paper / Scissors
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, San Juan, Puerto Rico, The Global Caribbean, Focus on the Caribbean Contemporary Landscape (traveled to Fondation Clément, Le François, Martinique, 2012)
2010
Musée International des Arts Modestes, Sète, France, Global Caraîbes MIAM
2009
The Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance Art Center, Miami, Florida, Global Caribbean
Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, New York, Party At Chris’s House
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Vermont, Playing Around
2008
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York, Person in the Crowd: The Contemporary Art of Flanerie
2007
Brooklyn Museum, New York, Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art
2006
American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, Newly Elected Members and Recipients of Honors and Awards
American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, Invitational Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
2005
Brooklyn College Art Gallery, New York, Alumni Exhibition: Celebrating the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of Brooklyn College
Triangle Arts Association, Brooklyn, New York, Flavor Intensive: 5 Sculptors
2003
Galleria Limiti Inchiusi, Campobasso, Italy, Fuoriluogo 8/Afritalia
MoMA PS1, Queens, New York, Site/Insight: An Assemblage of Artists, curated by Agnes Gund
American Academy in Rome, Open Studio Exhibition
2002
Queens Museum of Art, New York, Queens International
Aurora Gallery, New York, On The Tracks: Works By NYC Sculptors
Islip Art Museum, East Islip, New York, Body Language
Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation Ace Gallery, New York, Artist to Artist, A Decade of the Space Program
Skoto Gallery, New York
2001
Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
SPACES, Cleveland, Ohio, Drawing on Language
Karl Drerup Gallery, Plymouth State College, New Hampshire, Jamaican Art; In The Fullness Of Time (traveled to Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca, New York; Howard University Gallery, Washington, DC; Sidney Mishkin Gallery, New York, 2002; and Clark University Gallery of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, 2002)
2000
Venice,Open 2000: International Exhibition of Sculptures and Installations
Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, New York, Recess
1999
Rush Arts, New York, New York
1998
Henry Street Settlement, New York, Local Color
Sideshow Gallery, New York, Pay Per It
The Work Space, New York, Making It
Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, Minnesota
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Current Undercurrent: Working in Brooklyn
1997
Gasworks, London, New York Drawers
Corner House, Manchester, England, New York Drawers
Two Sculptors Inc., New York, First Annual
Pierogi 2000, New York, Gramercy Art Fair
1996
Silverstein Gallery, New York, The January Show
1995
473 Broadway, New York, New York Soho Biennial
Unnatural History Museum, New York, Freaks
1994
Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, New York
K & E Gallery, New York, The Box Show
The Police Building, New York, Raw Materials
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York, Other Visions: Composite
Galerie de L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Lorient, France, Le Temps D’un Dessin
1993
Westbeth Gallery, New York
1992
Metropolis Club, New York, Expodiscus Part 3
Jamaica Arts Center, New York, Workspace ‘92
Philippe Briet Gallery, New York
1991
Philippe Briet Gallery, New York, Domenikos Theotokopoulos: A Dialogue
A/C Project Room, New York, Artworks/Artworkers
1989
OIA Gallery , New York, OIA Salon ‘91
Brand X Gallery, New York, Artwork/Artworkers (traveled to A/C Project Room, New York, 1991)
AWARDS
2022
Irving Sandler Prize, Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program
2014
J. Weiler Fund Award
2007
The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award
2006
American Academy of Arts and Letters, Academy Award in Art
2003
New York Foundation For The Arts Fellowship In Sculpture
2002
Prize Fellowship in Visual Arts, American Academy In Rome
2001
Creative Capital Foundation Grant
1999
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
1997
Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant
1993
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Aïshti Foundation, Lebanon
Museum Brandhorst, Germany
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC
Neuberger Museum of Art, Harrison, New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut
PUBLICATIONS
2024
Arthur Simms: Sculpture
Karma/Martos Gallery, New York
2019
A to Z of Caribbean Art
Robert & Christopher Publishers, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
2007
Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art
Brooklyn Museum, New York, and Philip Wilson, London
