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The American artist Laurie Simmons is known for her photographs featuring tiny dolls representing stereotypical female roles in domestic interiors. The exhibition, a collaboration between Sammlung Goetz, Deutsches Theatermuseum and Filmfest Munich, presents a selection of works by Simmons that cast a critical gaze at gender stereotypes in the American middle class.
Simmons is considered a key figure of The Pictures Generation, a loosely organized group of American artists that questioned the role of mass media and consumer culture, beginning in the 1970s. While artists Richard Prince or Sherrie Levine often worked with photographs of ads from magazines or art history books, Simmons built her own artificial miniature worlds as sets for deconstructing societal roles.
In and Around the House (1978/79), an early photo series, represents a major break-through in Laurie Simmons’ career as an artist. Staged domestic interiors are inhabited by a tiny female doll. The photographer’s delight in manipulating the mirror-world of dollhouses is already palpable. 56 photographs tell a varied and often slightly disturbing story. They seem to refer to the diary of a housewife in a playful 1950s environment that contains hidden drama und pleasures.
In 2000, Laurie Simmons was commissioned to design a dollhouse for commercial production by Bozart Toys. Working with the architect Peter Wheelwright, the commission resulted in Kaleidoscope House, a modernist building with sliding doors in bright colors that partition the space on the floors and define the lighting in the rooms. Contemporary artisans designed the miniature furniture inside, and pictures by contemporary artists decorate the walls. Simmons also staged an eponymous photo series inside the building.
In Laurie Simmons’ movie The Music of Regret (2005/06), the dolls from previous photographs come alive. The film is structured as a three-act musical and sports a wide range of characters. An opening score introduces the main themes. Simmons directed the film and also wrote the lyrics for the songs. A large array of friends and acquaintances from the arts, cinema and theatre were involved.
A special exhibition presented by the Deutsches Theatermuseum and the Sammlung Goetz. Program partner: FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2026.
Curated by Karsten Löckemann with Anna Reimnitz.
