Kristin Simmons

The Messenger

Bernard Shaw said that if you want to tell people the truth, you’d better make them laugh, or they’ll kill you. Or you could show them the truth, which is the artifice of choice used by Kristin Simmons. Simmons is not an artist who indulges in social satire—but rather a social satirist who indulges in art. Simmons adroitly reveals the truth about us indirectly, her works—trenchant critiques—wittily exposing modern society through the objects of our desires. We have come to define ourselves in the 21st Century not by our aspirations but rather by the things we want, things Simmons mocks by trivializing. Having said that, Simmons is unabashed and unapologetic in her own appetite for luxury.

At first glance, her works—full of sparkly baubles and dazzling playthings awash in pop colors—instantly evoke a smile. But if we linger, discerning viewers notice  more going on beneath the playful, glittery veneer that initially greets us. If we take the time to peel back the layers, we detect her signature smirk, wrapped in wit, inside an innuendo.A cascade of innuendos and meta-innuendoes; eclipsing double entendres, Simmons is the master of the poly-entendre.

Simmons aims to unsettle us, jarring us from our comfortable complacence, gleefully juxtaposing discordant elements. Preferring to aim her satire of conspicuous consumption indirectly, through the objects of our desire.
Human beings appear rarely in her pieces – when they do, women always serve an unachievable exemplar of female beauty, a theme that threads through much of her work. While beauty blinds and dazzles us; allure is a lure.

Behind her Twiggy good looks and disarmingly cherry Legally Blonde ingenue exterior lurks one of our time’s most mordant and charmingly sassy social critics. Those who appreciate great art—those who get her work—will want to get her work.