Gary Simmons Brings Memory To The Forefront In ‘Rush’

Gary Simmons’ Rush, housed at the Cookie Factory in Denver, is an immersive meditation on movement, memory, and what gets erased in the recording of American history. Known since the late 1980s for using erasure as a concept, Simmons extends his practice here into an architectural scale,src=”https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_9310.jpg” alt=”Gary Simmons Brings Memory To The Forefront In ‘Rush’” width=”400″ height=”262″ />Gary Simmons, Untitled (Stars #4), 2022 (detail). Oil and cold wax on canvas, 24 x 18 x 2 inches. Photo: Brica Wilcox © Gary Simmons, Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth.

Born in New York in 1964 and of West Indian descent, Simmons has consistently drawn from popular culture such as cartoons, cinema, and sports, to expose how systems of racial and social power embed themselves early. During the exhibition’s opening night, he recalled a childhood memory that continues to shape his practice: entering a classroom and seeing faint chalk marks left behind from the previous lesson. 

“You’d erase it and there’d be little flashes,” Simmons said. “I’d always try to figure out what they were learning before we got into class.” At times, the lasting residue residue becomes a guiding image. With Rush, that dynamic expands outward, inviting viewers to draw their own conclusions of what deserves to be present or absent.

The theme of movement is prevalent throughout the exhibition in several ways. Simmons was intrigued by the building’s own transitions—from paper mill to cookie factory to abandonment to cultural space—and how closely that mirrored narratives of westward motion. Manifest Destiny promised an endpoint of prosperity, but the routes toward it were defined by trials and tribulations. “There were all these routes and >Gary Simmons’ Rush is on view at the Cookie Factory through May 9, 2026.

TOPICS:  black art Black Artist

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