Taryn Simon’s Father Country Exhibition at Guggenheim
Taryn Simon’s new monographic exhibition, Father Country I Do Love You, opens at the Guggenheim and reimagines espionage stories through a blend of photography, text, and interactive installations. The work follows a retired federal agent’s life and its ripple effects, while reflecting Simon’s meti…
By Felo News Desk · Published
In early March, the Guggenheim’s iconic spiral rotunda welcomed Taryn Simon’s most expansive solo show yet, Father Country I Do Love You. The exhibition is the first monographic display by a photography‑based artist in the museum’s history and the largest debut of new work ever staged there. The opening is set for March 14, 2027, and the show will run for several months, offering visitors an immersive journey through the hidden corners of espionage, bureaucracy, and personal memory.
From Bangkok to Long Island: The Story Behind the Show
Simon’s inspiration traces back to her father, a U.S. government employee stationed in Thailand during the 1960s. He recalled the disappearance of Jim Thompson, a silk businessman‑turned‑spy who vanished in 1967. When Simon was nine, she and her father recreated Thompson’s famed wood‑panelled den in their Long Island home. Years later, she rebuilt the space in the Guggenheim lobby, using faux teak to evoke the original. The meticulous attention to detail—turning non‑teak wood into convincing teak—highlights a hallmark of Simon’s practice: rigorous research and archival precision.
Father Country is the culmination of a decade‑long investigation that began with correspondence with a retired federal agent. Simon followed the agent’s trail, uncovering witnesses, conspiracies, and the everyday lives of those connected to espionage. She has spent five days cataloguing seized contraband at JFK International Airport, imported more than 4,000 specimens to recreate floral centerpieces for international treaties, and traced the bloodlines of figures ranging from the first female airplane hijacker to a lab rabbit. These exhaustive research efforts feed the exhibition’s narrative structure.
Structure and Style: A Novel in Visual Form
Simon describes the project as “built almost like a novel.” Each chapter is color‑coded and opens with a first‑person narrative written in the voice of the agent, derived from text messages and interviews. The images and text flow linearly at times—such as the agent’s search for the bullet that killed Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster in 1993—but also branch into tangential stories, like a babysitting assignment that led to a sting operation against a D.C. mayor. These interwoven threads create a mosaic of espionage that feels both expansive and intimate.
Interactive installations punctuate the gallery, including a performance with professional mourners, a cold plunge in a gallery space, and a voting machine that invites visitors to engage with the material. Simon’s experimentation with these elements reflects her broader practice of blending art, performance, and documentary research.
Personal Resonance and Memory Loss
The exhibition’s final chapter centers on memory loss. In 2020, the agent experienced transient global amnesia, a temporary inability to form new memories. That same year, Simon’s father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The show is dedicated to him, and the final images include a video of his distressed babbling over Kodachrome slides from his travels. Simon’s father’s storytelling—sharing slideshows of countries he visited—was a formative experience that shaped her understanding of the world.
Father Country concludes with a portrait of Simon as a child at Jim Thompson’s house, hands resting on a real teak staircase. The image serves as a visual bookend, tying the exhibition’s themes of espionage, memory, and personal history together.
What’s Next for the Exhibition?
Visitors to the Guggenheim can experience the full breadth of Father Country until March 14, 2027. The museum will host a series of talks and workshops that delve deeper into the research methods behind the show. Simon has also hinted at future projects that will continue to explore the intersections of art, information, and power.
Father Country I Do Love You invites audiences to question the narratives we accept and to recognize the unseen forces that shape our lives. It is a testament to Simon’s dedication to meticulous research, narrative depth, and the power of visual storytelling.
Key facts
- First monographic show by a photography‑based artist at Guggenheim
- Decade‑long research into a retired federal agent’s life
- Novel‑style structure with color‑coded chapters
- Interactive installations and performance art
- Personal dedication to Simon’s father’s memory loss
Why it matters
The exhibition pushes the boundaries of contemporary art by merging rigorous archival research with immersive storytelling, offering a fresh lens on espionage, memory, and the everyday structures that govern society.
Frequently asked questions
When does Father Country open at the Guggenheim?
The exhibition opens in under three weeks and runs until March 14, 2027.
What makes this exhibition unique?
It is the first monographic show by a photography‑based artist at the Guggenheim and the largest debut of new work ever staged there.
How did Simon research the project?
She spent years writing letters, making phone calls, cataloguing seized contraband, and tracing the bloodlines of various historical figures.
What is the central theme of the show?
The exhibition explores espionage, bureaucracy, and personal memory, particularly memory loss.
Sources
- [1] theguardian.com — originally reported as “Taryn Simon on her most ambitious exhibition yet: ‘It’s built almost like a novel’”
