Jay Simple
Jay Simple is a son, a brother, a father, a friend, an artist, an activist, and a scholar led by his ancestors and Allah. He was born in Chicago and raised in Philadelphia, where he current resides. He is black and his life is eternal and multidimensional.
Artist Statement
Through “The Ti(d)es That Bind Us” Jay Simple examines the colonial period in the United States and the important historical figures, locations, and moments that created the groundwork for a national narrative. Through these images he constantly aims to undermine the narrative, to show the contradictions and brutality that must be fundamentally ignored for the narrative of truth, justice, and liberty, to appear logical.
Release Date: May 20, 2022
I saw this sign as I was driving around trying to find Lynchburg. I’m interested in the way symbols or iconography of colonialism even when benign speaks to its violence.
Lynching Station, 2017
Release Date: December 16, 2022
This image is taken at the Pocahontas Island Black History Museum in Virginia. The image is of a collection of KKK memorabilia. I was really focusing on the “Picked My Own Cotton!” part and the delusion necessary to believe such a claim.
I’d Jumped Off The Boat, 2017