On View
Not on viewObject number2001.40
Odds
Maker
Lorna Simpson
(American, 1960-)
Date1991
Medium3 black and white gelatin prints, 10 engraved plastic plaques
Dimensionsframe (2001.40.1): 29 × 29 × 1 3/4 in. (73.7 × 73.7 × 4.4 cm)
frame (2001.40.2): 56 × 45 × 1 3/4 in. (142.2 × 114.3 × 4.4 cm)
frame (2001.40.3): 56 × 45 × 1 3/4 in. (142.2 × 114.3 × 4.4 cm)
panel (1 in a hundred): 3 × 10 in. (7.6 × 25.4 cm)
panel (1 out of 3): 3 × 8 in. (7.6 × 20.3 cm)
panel (2 out of 7): 3 × 8 in. (7.6 × 20.3 cm)
panel (3 out of 4): 3 × 8 in. (7.6 × 20.3 cm)
panel (one fifth): 3 × 8 in. (7.6 × 20.3 cm)
panel (1 in Ten): 3 × 7 in. (7.6 × 17.8 cm)
panel (99 44/100th%): 3 × 7 in. (7.6 × 17.8 cm)
panel (75%): 3 × 5 in. (7.6 × 12.7 cm)
panel (10%): 3 × 5 in. (7.6 × 12.7 cm)
panel (20%): 3 × 5 in. (7.6 × 12.7 cm)
frame (2001.40.2): 56 × 45 × 1 3/4 in. (142.2 × 114.3 × 4.4 cm)
frame (2001.40.3): 56 × 45 × 1 3/4 in. (142.2 × 114.3 × 4.4 cm)
panel (1 in a hundred): 3 × 10 in. (7.6 × 25.4 cm)
panel (1 out of 3): 3 × 8 in. (7.6 × 20.3 cm)
panel (2 out of 7): 3 × 8 in. (7.6 × 20.3 cm)
panel (3 out of 4): 3 × 8 in. (7.6 × 20.3 cm)
panel (one fifth): 3 × 8 in. (7.6 × 20.3 cm)
panel (1 in Ten): 3 × 7 in. (7.6 × 17.8 cm)
panel (99 44/100th%): 3 × 7 in. (7.6 × 17.8 cm)
panel (75%): 3 × 5 in. (7.6 × 12.7 cm)
panel (10%): 3 × 5 in. (7.6 × 12.7 cm)
panel (20%): 3 × 5 in. (7.6 × 12.7 cm)
Credit LineElisabeth Claire Lahti Fund
Exhibition History"Embracing Diverse Voices: African-American Art in the Collection of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts," KIA Galleries 3&4 (Oct. 3 - Nov. 29, 2009).
"Embracing Diverse Voices: 80 Years of African-American Art," KIA Traveling Exhibition, Bakersfield Museum of Art (Dec. 13, 2012 – Mar. 10, 2013).
"Lasting Legacy: A Collection for Kalamazoo," Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan (Sep. 6, 2014 - Jan. 4, 2015).
"Embracing Diverse Voices: 90 Years of African-American Art," KIA Traveling Exhibition, Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, TX (January 17 - March 20, 2016).
"Embracing Diverse Voices: A Century of African-American Art," KIA Traveling Exhibition, North Carolina Central University Art Museum (October 7 - December 12, 2016).
"Resilience: African American Artists as Agents of Change," at the KIA (September 14, 2019 - February 16, 2020)
"Framing Moments: Photography from KIA's Permanent Collection," KIA (Feb. 6 - May 16, 2021)Label TextIn Odds, an anonymous black woman appears in three large photographs, accompanied by plaques listing unidentified statistics: 1 in a hundred, 1 out of 3, 2 out of 7, etc. We may recognize these from specific contexts (such as the Ivory soap claim to be “99.44% pure”) or general usage. Simpson forces the viewer to imagine the relationship between the statistics and the images. The nature of statistics is to describe generalities. However, there is much that statistics obscure regarding an individual’s identity or situation. Simpson obscures the identity of this woman, as her face is turned away and her form vanishes into the blackness. Odds may remind us of those individuals in our society, ignored as statistically insignificant, who are rendered silent and anonymous.
