Simone Leigh: A Visionary in Contemporary Art and Social Practice
How Simone Leigh Rebuilds Sculpture Around Black Female Knowledge Simone Leigh has changed the language of contemporary sculpture by refusing
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Simone Leigh Antonino La Vela Art Journal
Contemporary Art Criticism, Interviews, Essays and Visual Politics
Simone Leigh
Simone Leigh is an American artist born in Chicago in 1967. Working primarily in sculpture, she uses ceramic, bronze, raffia, video and installation to explore Black female subjectivity. Her monumental figures combine the human body with vessels and architectural forms drawn from Africa and the African diaspora.
Leigh places Black women at the centre of histories that have often ignored their labour, knowledge and autonomy. Many of her figures appear without eyes, resisting easy access to their identities or interior lives. Domestic objects, vernacular buildings and traditional materials become forms of protection, authority and collective memory.
In 2022, Leigh became the first Black woman to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale. Her presentation, Sovereignty, challenged colonial systems of representation while affirming self-determination and cultural survival. This tag brings together articles, exhibitions and critical perspectives on Simone Leigh’s artistic practice.
Simone Leigh