Edited with introduction by Eva Respini. Foreword by Jill Medvedow. Text by Vanessa Agard-Jones, Rizvana Bradley, Dionne Brand, Denise Ferreira da Silva, Malik Gaines, Saidiya V. Hartman, Daniella Rose King, Simone Leigh, Jessica Lynne, Nomaduma Masilela, Katherine McKittrick, Uri McMillan, Sequoia Miller, Steven Nelson, Tavia Nyong’o, Lorraine O'Grady, Rianna Jade Parker, Yasmina Price, Anni Pullagura, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, Christina Sharpe, Hortense J. Spillers.
The first major monograph on Simone Leigh’s multimedia explorations of community, Black feminism and the traditions and material cultures of the African diasporaA New York Times Book Review 2023 holiday gift guide pick
Over the past two decades, Simone Leigh has created artwork that situates questions of Black femme-identified subjectivity at the center of contemporary art discourse. Her sculpture, video, installation and social practice explore ideas of race, beauty and community in visual and material culture. Leigh’s art addresses a wide swath of historical periods, geographies and traditions, with specific references to materials across the African diaspora, as well as forms traditionally associated with African art and architecture.This publication includes substantial new scholarship addressing Leigh’s work across mediums and topics. The volume, timed with the artist's first museum survey and national tour, includes contributions by her longtime collaborators, new scholars who add diverse insights and perspectives, and a conversation highlighting Leigh’s voice. Additionally, generous and lushly illustrated plates feature her critically acclaimed work for the 59th Venice Biennale and works made throughout her 20-year career. A special section featuring Leigh's research images gives access to Leigh’s research methodologies and encourages readers to fully engage with all aspects of Leigh’s work. This monograph provides a timely opportunity to gain a holistic understanding of the complex and profoundly moving work of this groundbreaking artist. Born in Chicago in 1967, Simone Leigh received a BA in fine art with a minor in philosophy from Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, in 1990. In 2022, Leigh represented the United States at the 59th Venice Biennale with her critically acclaimed exhibition Sovereignty. She has had solo presentations at the Kitchen, New York (2012); Creative Time, New York (2014); New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2016); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2016); and the High Line, New York (2019); among other venues. Leigh lives and works in Brooklyn.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Simone Leigh.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Indulge
Ghalib Dhalla
With its comprehensive approach, this monograph invites a deeper understanding of Leigh’s work and its profound cultural significance.
Colossal
Grace Ebert
An essential and groundbreaking survey, the volume is celebratory, lauding Leigh’s expansive practice and enduring desire to fill gaps in the archive.
Colossal
Grace Ebert
An essential and groundbreaking survey, the volume is celebratory, lauding Leigh’s expansive practice and enduring desire to fill gaps in the archive.
Hyperallergic
Hakim Bishara
Consider it an essential reading list about Leigh’s work, its historical and intellectual roots, and its compelling assertion of Black women’s subjectivity, power, and dignity.
Brooklyn Rail
TK Smith
It is sure to be a definitive work of contemporary art historical scholarship, offering us insight into Leigh’s interdisciplinary artistic process, vivid images, and new ways to approach materiality.
Hyperallergic
Nereya Otieno
Leigh’s work interrogates critical components of sculpture through her signature use of clay as a medium that highlights the forging of form.
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“Cupboard IX” (2019) is reproduced from Simone Leigh, the first major monograph on the influential American artist, published on the occasion of her touring exhibition on view now at the Hirschhorn. Tracing the arc of her work in ceramic, bronze, raffia, video and social sculpture alongside “writings and ideas [that] are inextricably entwined with her art,” this is essential reading, according to curator Eva Respini, “that provides a series of pathways to consider Leigh’s groundbreaking, expansive art.” She continues: “In 2013 Leigh penned a manifesto, positing an art world in which her work might circulate: ‘I imagine a future where auto-ethnographic initiatives documenting “local forms” of craft and vernacular knowledge would exist across the world. . . . I foresee a time when Black artists will be encouraged to dive deep into their work . . . without this strange, accompanying commentary and gatekeeping.’ All along, Leigh has been sculpting her own time, looping her own histories, with a clear vision of what the future will bring.” continue to blog
“Cupboard IX” (2019) is reproduced from Simone Leigh, the first major monograph on the influential American artist, published on the occasion of her touring exhibition on view now at the Hirschhorn. Tracing the arc of her work in ceramic, bronze, raffia, video and social sculpture alongside “writings and ideas [that] are inextricably entwined with her art,” this is essential reading, according to curator Eva Respini, “that provides a series of pathways to consider Leigh’s groundbreaking, expansive art.” She continues: “In 2013 Leigh penned a manifesto, positing an art world in which her work might circulate: ‘I imagine a future where auto-ethnographic initiatives documenting “local forms” of craft and vernacular knowledge would exist across the world. . . . I foresee a time when Black artists will be encouraged to dive deep into their work . . . without this strange, accompanying commentary and gatekeeping.’ All along, Leigh has been sculpting her own time, looping her own histories, with a clear vision of what the future will bring.” continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 10.25 x 11.25 in. / 372 pgs / 186 color / 14 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $75.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $105 GBP £59.99 ISBN: 9781636810782 PUBLISHER: DelMonico Books/Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston AVAILABLE: 10/3/2023 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by DelMonico Books/Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Edited with introduction by Eva Respini. Foreword by Jill Medvedow. Text by Vanessa Agard-Jones, Rizvana Bradley, Dionne Brand, Denise Ferreira da Silva, Malik Gaines, Saidiya V. Hartman, Daniella Rose King, Simone Leigh, Jessica Lynne, Nomaduma Masilela, Katherine McKittrick, Uri McMillan, Sequoia Miller, Steven Nelson, Tavia Nyong’o, Lorraine O'Grady, Rianna Jade Parker, Yasmina Price, Anni Pullagura, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, Christina Sharpe, Hortense J. Spillers.
The first major monograph on Simone Leigh’s multimedia explorations of community, Black feminism and the traditions and material cultures of the African diaspora
A New York Times Book Review 2023 holiday gift guide pick
Over the past two decades, Simone Leigh has created artwork that situates questions of Black femme-identified subjectivity at the center of contemporary art discourse. Her sculpture, video, installation and social practice explore ideas of race, beauty and community in visual and material culture. Leigh’s art addresses a wide swath of historical periods, geographies and traditions, with specific references to materials across the African diaspora, as well as forms traditionally associated with African art and architecture.This publication includes substantial new scholarship addressing Leigh’s work across mediums and topics. The volume, timed with the artist's first museum survey and national tour, includes contributions by her longtime collaborators, new scholars who add diverse insights and perspectives, and a conversation highlighting Leigh’s voice. Additionally, generous and lushly illustrated plates feature her critically acclaimed work for the 59th Venice Biennale and works made throughout her 20-year career. A special section featuring Leigh's research images gives access to Leigh’s research methodologies and encourages readers to fully engage with all aspects of Leigh’s work. This monograph provides a timely opportunity to gain a holistic understanding of the complex and profoundly moving work of this groundbreaking artist.
Born in Chicago in 1967, Simone Leigh received a BA in fine art with a minor in philosophy from Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, in 1990. In 2022, Leigh represented the United States at the 59th Venice Biennale with her critically acclaimed exhibition Sovereignty. She has had solo presentations at the Kitchen, New York (2012); Creative Time, New York (2014); New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2016); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2016); and the High Line, New York (2019); among other venues. Leigh lives and works in Brooklyn.
