The Celebutante

'This is art that plays with both positive creativity and our capacity for self-destruction. This tension is only heightened at a time the temptation to touch fellow human flesh is taboo, when the urge to hug, kiss and even shake hands is denied for its potentially fatal consequences. “There’s a disconnect a lot of people have been feeling, just slightly missing each other,” Simms muses. “I still feel human interaction’s a bit weird at the moment. A misfire.” He points to a painting which references Jupiter and Io, the 16th century Italian high renaissance painting by Antonio da Correggio, in which Jupiter, the god of the sky, shapeshifts to seduce his mortal lover Io. “Jupiter has got the guise of a cloud, to have some anonymity from his other lovers while seducing her,” says Simms. “I found it really interesting to replace the idea of the cloud with a phone, and that online seduction being ethereal. You don’t really know who you’re talking to. I’ve had these strange experiences where you’re not sure if what’s going on is real.'
Excerpt from catalogue essay by Steve Dow, 2020