Taryn Simon: Father Country I Do Love You - Guggenheim Museum - New York
On view from 18 September 2026 to 14 March 2027, Taryn Simon: Father Country I Do Love You premieres an entirely new body of work by the American artist during the 250th anniversary of the United States. Never-before-seen photographs, text, videos and sculptures come together in a single interactive installation that fills the whole of the Guggenheim rotunda. It is the first monographic exhibition by a photography-based artist to take over that space, and the largest debut of new work ever staged at the museum.
Nearly a decade in the making, Father Country I Do Love You (2026) traces the real life of one unnamed federal agent through 42 individual artworks. Through duty, devotion, loss and happenstance, the agent worked as a middleman, witnessing events great and small and collecting evidence for someone else to slot into a bigger picture. Everything he touched ricocheted out to the boundaries of nations and lives he would never know. Simon is widely recognised for storytelling that redirects our attention to the unseen forces shaping the world around us, and here her narration moves between victims, predators, survivors and the mechanics of justice.
The exhibition marks a turning point in Simon's career, the first time she has folded personal history into her practice. It is dedicated to her father, who worked for the U.S. government and travelled to Russia, Iran, Israel, China, Afghanistan and Korea before moving into manufacturing and selling arcade games. She never got his full story, and after his Alzheimer's diagnosis she realised she never would. Organised by Nat Trotman, Curator, Performance and Media, the exhibition is accompanied by an artist book copublished with Hatje Cantz, and the works will enter the museum's permanent collection. Go to Website
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