Simone Leigh

Simone Leigh, a traveling exhibition organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (ICA) and co-presented in Los Angeles by the California African American Museum (CAAM) and the Los Angeles County of Museum of Art (LACMA), is the first comprehensive survey of the richly layered work of this celebrated artist. CAAM’s presentation, which includes works from her 2022 Venice Biennale presentation, features nearly twenty years of Leigh’s practice in ceramics, bronze, video, installation, and social activation. Together, these works index a web of Black feminist theory, archival excavation, infrastructures for mutual care, and African art and architecture. Accompanied by a major monograph, this exhibition offers visitors a timely opportunity to gaze at Leigh’s artistic, scholarly, and social contributions, inspired by legacies of creativity, survival, and documentation by Black femmes throughout the world.

Simone Leigh is organized by Eva Respini, Deputy Director and Director of Curatorial Programs at the Vancouver Art Gallery (former Barbara Lee Chief Curator, ICA), with Anni A. Pullagura, Assistant Curator, ICA/Boston. The Los Angeles presentation is organized by Rita Gonzalez, Terri and Michael Smooke Curator and Department Head, Contemporary Art, and Naima J. Keith, Vice President, Education and Public Programs, LACMA, and Taylor Renee Aldridge, Visual Arts Curator, CAAM.