Xaviera Simmons, ‘Landscape (2 Women),’ in tête-à-tête at Yancey Richardson Gallery

Xaviera Simmons, Landscape (2 Women), color photograph, 2007.
Xaviera Simmons, Landscape (2 Women), color photograph, 2007.

Xaviera Simmons is known for her portraits in America landscapes, but in ‘Landscape (2 Women)’ from 2007, her models contend with an urban environment consisting of a dramatic red wall that sends out conflicting associations that include love, anger, danger and a sense of urgency.  Simmons past series have sometimes featured subjects with skirts pulled over heads and assortments of objects hung around the waist like visual essays on identity; here, however, the womens’ differently aged bodies and their relationship are left to speak for themselves. (Included in tête-à-tête, curated by Mickalene Thomas at Yancey Richardson Gallery through Aug 24th.)