In an article in the Guardian announcing Simone Leigh’s fall 2027 exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, the artist did not hold back on her criticism of the United States. “I’ve been thinking about American history a lot in the development of these works because we’re now living under full-on fascism here,” she told the Guardian. “I’ve been thinking about the kind of art that’s made under fascism.”To that end, the Royal Academy show will feature a series of new monumental sculptures, the type of work for which the artist has become known over the past decade or so. One of Leigh’s most recognizable figures is Brick House, a 16-foot-tall bust of a faceless Black woman with two braids and a hoop skirt that rests on the floor. This piece was on view on New York’s High Line from the summer of 2019 through 2021. Leigh’s critically acclaimed exhibition for the US Pavilion at the 2022 Venice Biennale included several large-scale sculptures along with a film. She won the Golden Lion for Brick House, which was included in the Biennale’s main exhibition “Milk of Dreams.”In her interview with the Guardian, Leigh specifically criticized Columbia University’s “complicity” with the Trump administration’s “anti-woke” agenda. “They were almost doing a ‘prophylactic fascism’. They weren’t even waiting to be told to expel students and put down all protests … I guess you would have to go back to a McCarthy era to see this kind of obedience.” She also references artist of color whose commissions have been delayed or cancelled for “anti-DEI reasons.” Related Articles Christie's 21st Century Sale Yields $96.4 M. and a New Record for a Living Female Artist Artists for Kamala Fundraiser Auction Brings in More Than $1.5 M. The Royal Academy show is curated by Tarini Malik, who organized the British Pavilion at the most recent Venice Biennale. Leigh’s work is currently on view at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Kallithea, outside of Athens, through Oct. 31.
