The "Rediscovery" of Sculptor Diane Simpson

Diane Simpson (BFA 1971, MFA 1978) was recently featured in Artnet News discussing her lifelong accomplishments and newfound success as a sculptor. Until recently, Simpson was relatively unknown outside of her hometown of Chicago. But with the artist’s inclusion in last year's Whitney Biennial and her first institutional show in Europe at Nottingham Contemporary, she's finally getting the attention she deserves.

Simpson studied Painting and Drawing at SAIC, but turned to sculpture after a tutor encouraged her to reimagine her drawings as three-dimensional objects. Using corrugated cardboard and MDF, Simpson creates abstract, geometric sculptures. Over the past four decades she's shown at several galleries in Chicago and New York, but it wasn't until her career retrospective at the Chicago Cultural Center in 2010 that she was picked up by dealer Corbett vs. Dempsey. Her success comes at a time when the artworld is experiencing a renewed interest in Chicago Imagists, many of whom also attended SAIC.

Her exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary, Diane Simpson: Sculpture, Drawing, Prints 1976-2014, is on view until May 3.