Simone Leigh, U.S. Pavilion – Venice Art Biennale 2022

Simone Leigh, Satellite, 2022, bronze; Sovereignty exhibition,  U.S. Pavilion, Venice Art Biennale 2022; photo © Riccardo Bianchini  / Inexhibit.

Simone Leigh, Sovereignty, U.S. Pavilion – Venice Art Biennale 2022

Title: Simone Leigh, Sovereignty
Commissioner: Jill Medvedow, Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
Curator: Eva Respini, Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
Artist: Simone Leigh
Venue: United States Pavilion, Giardini della Biennale

The ICA- Institute of Contemporary Art – Boston is the commissioner of the United States Pavilion at the 59th Venice Art Biennale in 2022. The pavilion presents the work of American artist Simone Leigh in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Leigh’s sculptural work explores themes related to history, race, gender, labor, and monuments, creating and reclaiming powerful narratives of Black women and their resilience. For the Venice Biennale exhibition, Simone Leigh (Chicago, 1967) created a series of figurative sculptures in ceramic, bronze, and raffia, combining references to the 19th-century art of Western Africa, the material culture of the early Black Americans, and the African Diaspora, and the colonial history of international expositions.
Entitled Sovereignty, the exhibition begins outside the pavilion, with an installation that covers the building with a thatch roofing reminiscent of that of an early-19th century West African palace and the 24-foot tall bronze sculpture Satellite.
The pieces on show inside the pavilion, all specially created for the exhibition, feature a variety of forms and materials – from bronze and glazed ceramics to raffia and steel – that fully embody the articulated creative language of Simone Leigh – that freely ranges from figurative to abstract works – and the complex and rich cultural framework which informs her artistic vision.

Simone Leigh, Last Garment, 2022, bronze and metal; U.S Pavilion, Venice Art Biennale 2022; photo © Riccardo Bianchini  / Inexhibit.

Simone Leigh, Jug, 2022, glazed stoneware; photo © Riccardo Bianchini  / Inexhibit.

Simone Leigh, Cupboard, 2022, raffia, steel, and glazed stoneware; photo © Riccardo Bianchini  / Inexhibit.

Simone Leigh, Anonymous, 2022, glazed stoneware and bronze; photo © Riccardo Bianchini  / Inexhibit.

Simone Leigh, Sentinel, 2022, bronze; photo © Riccardo Bianchini  / Inexhibit.

Simone Leigh, Martinique, 2022, glazed stoneware; photo © Riccardo Bianchini  / Inexhibit.

Simone Leigh; photo by Shaniqwa Jarvis courtesy of the artist.