In a city known for its artists, those who wish to catch a glimpse of Lorna Simpson’s former Brooklyn home studio now have a chance to see it.
Located at 208 Vanderbilt Avenue, 208 Green Block in Brooklyn, the four-story, 22-foot-wide building was designed by British architect David Adjaye for Simpson and her now ex-husband, James Casebere.
The pitch-black black is what the architect calls it stylish design with black polypropylene panels at the front and the back is almost entirely made of glass windows that lead to more than 800 square feet of garden space.
Inside, the house has three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms that have previously been used as bedrooms and separate studio spaces that provide artists with approximately 3300 square feet of artists.
Although Simpson moved to a larger commercial space nearby a few years ago, the building remains an archive and storage space, and is also a location for hosting and entertaining guests.
Simpson chose to create a space when she couldn’t find the right space for her.
“I couldn’t find something I like that feels spacious and doesn’t feel like a narrow traditional townhouse family space with limited freedom wall space,” Simpson told Simpson New York Times.
Simpson added: “The outdoor space is day or night.
While the cost of artists’ dreams may be priceless, townhouses are currently on the market, with the Corcoran Group priced at as high as $6.5 million and revenues from annual property taxes slightly above $12,000.
The property is located in Fort Greene Park and other famous art areas such as the Brooklyn School of Music (BAM) and the Pratt Institute.
Simpson is known for its seductive and elusive surfaces that are explorations of gender, race, and culture that form images of black women. She stood out from photography works on the same subject in the 1980s and 90s. Her work is currently on display in the exhibition “Source Notes” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York until November 2.
This is not the first famous artist studio in recent years. Andy Warhol’s former New York studio and apartment, where Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked from 1983 until his death in 1988, was up for grabs in late 2022 before it was taken over by Atelier Jolie in 2023. In 2021, the Gramercy Park home and studio of Anselm Kiefer, and subsequently Julian Schnabel, also appeared on the market for $10 million.
