Stick, 2019

Bronze
©  Simone Leigh; courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery. Photo by Farzad Owrang.

Stick is one of three sculptures created by Simone Leigh for the Whitney Biennial in 2019. It belongs to a series of works that the artist began in 2016 called Anatomy of Architecture. In these works, Leigh conflates the human body with motifs from various African building traditions, especially those relating to the domestic realm. Over seven feet tall, the bronze portrays a woman whose torso merges with a large, dome-shaped structure bristling with dozens of cylindrical rods. The figure is devoid of arms and ears, and her eyes are suggested only by subtle indentations—details that emphasize the importance of abstraction in the artist’s work. For Leigh, Black femme interiority in the United States—and across the African diaspora—constitutes her primary intended subject matter and intended audience. For several years, she was known to begin any talk she was invited to give by stating two points: that her work centers Black women, and that Black women are its primary intended audience. Whether creating a small-scale ceramic, a towering bronze, a video, or an installation, or engaging in a form of social practice, Leigh seeks to elevate the status of women who have faced denial—“who, for whatever reason, have been left out of history.”