Taryn Simon on customs, counterfeits and the Russian media

Installation view of four black square and rectangular frames with images of portraits inside.

Installation view of ‘Taryn Simon: Portraits and Surrogates’ at Gagosian in Hong Kong. © Taryn Simon. Courtesy of Gagosian

(Image credit: TBC)

‘It is the first time these works have ever been in conversation together so the show has a very specific conceptual intent in calling them portraits and surrogates,’ says the New York-based artist Taryn Simon, on her first solo exhibition in Hong Kong at the Gagosian.

With Contraband (2010), she presents a selection of images from her photographic archive of 1,075 items confiscated by US customs and postal service officials. Simon lived at the airport for an entire week photographing an eclectic array of items. From counterfeit handbags and dead animals, to intricately wrapped food items and pirate videos, the resulting images are a reflection on how people at the border are defined by their objects.

‘Counterfeit goods were the battlefront of immigration services at that time,’ Simon says. ‘You’d expect more dangerous items but it was an economic battle then.’

Two handbags side-by-side, red in colour with two beige carry loops. — *Handbags, Hermés (counterfeit), (detail), by Taryn Simon, 2010*. © Taryn Simon. Courtesy Gagosian

The artist is best known for her photography paired with text, as seen in her Paperwork and the Will of Capital (2015) series. Here, she worked with a botanist to meticulously reproduce the formal floral arrangements showcased at the signing of several important international agreements, accords and treaties.

The monumental photographs, accompanied by text about the treaty signing, are presented in mahogany picture frames that Simon says forms an integral part of the artwork. ‘Some of these flowers convey a certain public ceremony, but the aesthetics are completely different to what the texts are about,’ she explains. ‘For me, it is about that disruption of presumption and judgement and perception.’

The artist’s video self-portrait – made in collaboration with a Russian news programme – is the undisputed highlight of the exhibition. It shows how at the close of a video interview on Russia Prime Time, the artist was asked to sit silently and stare at the two newscasters for several minutes so that the extra footage could be used in the editing process. ‘It is about the ways in which you perform in what, at the end, looks natural but is really very awkward,’ Simon says.

Simon usually works on one project at a time – sometimes for several years carrying out painstaking research – without any idea of what the next project will be. ‘Each project is not a building block but almost a rejection. It is like the person who made that project is dead and there is a new author,’ she offers.

‘In my mind there are radical shifts that come from an exhaustion from the former project. There is a jump to a completely new construction of work.’ Good news indeed.

Three hand0guns and three packets containing small bullets. — *Plastic guns with green BBs, Pocket Nine (illegal), (detail)*, 2010. *© Taryn Simon. Courtesy of Gagosian*

Three rectangular image frames of different widths containing portrait images. — *Chapter V, A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters I-XVIII*, 2011. *© Taryn Simon. Courtesy of Gagosian*

Installation view of seven rectangular black frames with portraits in each. — Installation view of ‘Taryn Simon: Portraits and Surrogates’ at Gagosian in Hong Kong. *© Taryn Simon. Courtesy of Gagosian*

Two nike boxes and two of the same shoe on display. — *Sneakers, Nike, China (counterfeit) (detail),* 2010. *© Taryn Simon. Courtesy of Gagosian*

Installation view of floral portraits on display. — Installation view of ‘Taryn Simon: Portraits and Surrogates’ at Gagosian in Hong Kong. *© Taryn Simon. Courtesy of Gagosian*

A large piece of art work on display featuring a red and green background and a floral element in the centre. — *Paperwork and the Will of Capital*, 2015. Agreement for cooperation on China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System in Pakistan, Aiwan-e-Sadr, Islamabad, Pakistan, May 22, 2013. *© Taryn Simon. Courtesy of Gagosian*

Installation view of a series of small rectangular white frames with an image inside each. — Installation view of ‘Taryn Simon: Portraits and Surrogates’ at Gagosian in Hong Kong. *© Taryn Simon. Courtesy of Gagosian*

INFORMATION

‘Taryn Simon: Portraits and Surrogates’ is on view until 5 August. For more information, visit the Gagosian website

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Catherine Shaw is a writer, editor and consultant specialising in architecture and design. She has written and contributed to over ten books, including award-winning monographs on art collector and designer Alan Chan, and on architect William Lim's Asian design philosophy. She has also authored books on architect André Fu, on Turkish interior designer Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu, and on Beijing-based OPEN Architecture's most significant cultural projects across China.