Simone Leigh - Artists

b. 1968, Chicago, IL
Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY

EDUCATION
1990 BA in Art and Philosophy, Earlham College, Richmond IN

SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2014   Simone Leigh, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, organized by Stuart Horodner
           Atlanta, GA
  Simone Leigh and Wolfgang Paalen, Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA

2013  I Always Face You Even When It Seems Otherwise, Tiwani Contemporary London,
UK organized by Bisi Silva with catalog

2012  What's Her Face, Gavlak Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
You Don’t Know Where Her Mouth Has Been, curated by Rashida Bumbray The
Kitchen, New York, NY  jam packed and jelly tight Tilton Gallery, New York, NY

2009  The Gods Must Be Crazy, for In Practice, SculptureCenter, Queens, NY
Queen Bee, G Fine Art Project Room, Washington, D.C.

2008  Scratching the Surface, Vol 1 L'appartement 22, Rabat, Morocco organized by
           Gabi Ngcobo and Mwenya Kabwe
           if you wan fo' lick old woman pot, you scratch him back (Jamaican proverb), Rush
           Arts Gallery Project Space, New York, NY

2005  Momenta Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2014  Dak'art 2014: The 11th Biennial of Contemporary African Art, organized by Elise
           Atangana, Abdelkader Damani and Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi
           Black in the Abstract, Part 2: Hard Edges/Soft Curves,  Contemporary Art Museum
           Houston, organized by Valerie Cassel Oliver

2013  Present Tense Future Perfect, Carol Jazzar Contemporary, Miami, FL, organized by
           Teka Selman 
           Double Fortune, Double Trouble: Art for Twins among the Yoruba, Fowler Museum
           at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, organized by Marla Berns and Henry Drewal
           approximately infinite universe,  Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla,
           CA, organized by Jill Dawsey Radical
           Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art Contemporary Art Museum in
           Houston, Houston, TX, Studio Museum in Harlem, NY, NY and The Walker Art Center,
           organized by Valerie Cassel Oliver, with catalog 
           FUN HOUSE  Richard Gray Gallery, New York, NY 
           March On!  Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York, NY, organized by Dexter
           Wimberly

2012  Cleopatra's Family Jewels Family Business, New York, NY 
           Pose/Re-Pose: Figurative Works Then and Now, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, |
           Georgia, organized by Isolde Brielmaier and Melissa Messina 
  The Whitney Biennial 2012, as a part of Alica Hall Moran and Jason Moran's BLEED,
           The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY 
           Transforming Function, Building 110, Governor's Island, organized by the Lower
           Manhattan Cultural Council 
           Unevenness, The National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe, organized by
           Raphael Chikukwa 
           In the Making, Roberts and Tilton, Los Angeles, CA 
           Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art, Contemporary Art
           Museum in Houston, Houston, TX, The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY and The Walker
           Art Center, organized by Valerie Cassel Oliver, with catalog

2011  The Bearden Project, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY 
           Evidence of Accumulation, Artist-In-Residence program exhibition, The Studio
           Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, organized by Naomi Beckwith, 
           Weltraum/Space – Exploration and Exploitation, KUNSTHALLE wein, Vienna, Austria,
           organized by Catherine Hug  
           The February Show, Ogilvy and Mather, New York, NY organized by Jun Lee and
           Heather Hart

2010  Else, Jack Tilton Gallery, organized by Derrick Adams and Jack Tilton 
           Divine Horsemen, with Chitra Ganesh, Mason Gross Galleries, Rutgers University,
           New Brunswick, NJ, organized by Latoya Ruby Frazier Digression, Hendershot
           Gallery, organized by Jessica Shaefer 
           Comedy and Tragedy, Marvelli Gallery, organized by David Hunt Bunny Redux, The
           Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburg, PA, organized by Eric Shiner 
           Hair Tactics, Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ, organized by Rocio
           Aranda, Alvarado vessel, Brennan Gallery, Jersey City, NJ,organized by Kenya
           (Robinson) 
           The Brucennial, Recess Space, NY   
2009  30 seconds off an inch, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, organized by
           Naomi Beckwith 
           Rockstone and Bootheel: Contemporary West Indian Art, Real Art Ways, Hartford,
           CT, organized by Kristina Newman-Scott and Yona Backer (with catalog) 
           Herd Thinner, Charest-Weinberg Gallery, Miami, FL 
           The Pleasure of Hating, Lisa Cooley Gallery, New York NY, organized by David
           Hunt 
           AIM 29, Bronx Museum, Bronx, NY, organized by Micaela Giovannotti (with
           catalog) 
           Locus, MCLA Gallery 51, North Adams, MA organized by Lauren Wolk 
           Pulse, Taller Boricua, New York NY, organized by organized by Fernando Salicrup
           and Christine Licata

2008   The Future As Disruption, The Kitchen, New York NY, organized by Rashida Bumbray
           and Matthew
           Lyons Intransit, Moti Hasson Gallery, organized by Omar Lopez-Chadoud 
           The B-Sides, ALIRA a Center for Contemporary Art, organized by Edwin
           Ramoran 
           Archeologies of Wonder, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT, organized by Kristina
           Newman-Scott 
           Ethnographies of the Future Remixed, Tides Foundation, New York, NY, organized
           by Sara Reisman 
           Scratching The Surface VOL 1, L’appartement22, Rabat, Morocco and AVA
           Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa, organized by Gabi Ngcobo and Mwenya
           Kabwe 
           Ethnographies of the Future, Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, NY organized by Sara
           Reisman

2007  Material Culture, Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos, Bronx, NY, organized by Juanita
           Lonzos Red Badge of Courage, Newark Council for the Arts, Newark, NY,
           organized by Omar Lopez-Chahoud 
           Done by the Forces of Nature, City of College of New York, New York, NY
           organized by Roberto Visani Visual Jury, Fine Art Work Center, Provincetown,
           MA 
           Defensive Mechanisms (part of INTERSECTIONS) Henry Street Settlement, Abrons Art
           Center, New York, NY organized by Martin Dust

2006  Wild Girls, EXIT ART, organized by Jodi Hanel, Sarah Ryhanen, and Juana
           Gallo. 
           Henry Street Settlement, Abrons Art Center, New York, NY 
           Brooklyn Divas, Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, New York 
           Figures of Thinking: Convergences in Contemporary Cultures, organized by Vicky
           Clark and Sandhini Poddar, various venues including The Chicago Cultural Center,
           Chicago, IL, Richard E. Peeler Art Center, De Pauw University, Greencastle, IN
           Western Gallery, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA,  The Mc
           Dounough Museum of Art, Youngstown, OH, Tufts University Gallery, Medford MA
           and the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art, Univeristy of Richmond, Richmond,
           VA, (with catalog)

2005  “From the Studio: Wish You Were Here…”, Co-dependent: Artists, Artist/Curators, &
           Curators Select Artists @ The Living Room, Miami, FL, organized by Franklin
           Sirmans  
           Remnants and Relics: Reinterpretations in African American Art, Jamaica Center
           for Arts and Learning, Queens, NY, organized by Heng-Gil Han (with catalog)
           Divine, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine and LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia
           University, New York, NY, organized by Bruce W. Ferguson and Milena
           Honigsberg James E Lewis Museum of Art, Morgan State University, Baltimore,
           MD) 
           Watershed Kiln Gods, Gallery 1448, Baltimore, MD) (with catalog)

2004  Art Downtown: Connecting Collections, The Deutsche Bank, New York, NY Steuben
Gallery, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore MD

2003  Skylight gallery, Bedford Styvesant Restoration Corporation, Brooklyn, NY  The
Nathan Cummings Foundation, New York, NY

2002  The Center for African American Art and NOEL gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina

2001  Rush Arts Gallery, New York, NY, organized by Lea K. Green

2000  SMIRK, Women, Art and Humor, Firehouse Gallery, Hempstead, NY, organized by
Debra Wacks (with catalog)

AWARDS/RESIDENCIES/INTERNSHIPS/GRANTS
2013 Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Biennial Award

2012   Creative Capital Grantee
           The International Art Programme, Center For Contemporary Art Lagos, Nigeria
           Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Michael Richards award for Visual Arts
(formerly the President's Award)

2011  Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant for Painters and Sculptors
The Worth Residency in Bovina, NY
10-11  The Studio Museum in Harlem Artist-in-Residence Program

2009  New York Foundation of the Arts fellowship in Sculpture
Art Matters Foundation Grant
Bronx Museum AIM program

08-09  Artist in Residence, Hunter College

07-08  Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Workspace grant
Visiting Artist,School of Visual Arts Computer Art MFA program

2007  Astraea Foundation Visual Arts grant

2006  Artist In Residence, Henry Street Settlement, New York, NY

2005  Wheeler Foundation grant

2004  Artist in Residence, Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY

2001  Kiln God fellowship, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Watershed, ME

2000  Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME

SELECTED BIOGRAPHY
2012 "“Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art", Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Artforum, December, Sally Frater

"Chitra Ganesh, Simone Leigh", Tilton gallery, Modern Painters, September, Nova Benway

"Simone Leigh", Goings On About Town: Art, The New Yorker, Februray 27th

"The Surrealist Art of Simone Leigh", EBONY Magazine, March 5, Una-Kariim A. Cross

"Simone Leigh: Mouthing Off", artnet, Elisabeth Kley, January 27

"Simone Leigh and the Fruits of Her Labor", Art21, Nicole Caruth, January 20

"You Don't Know Where Her Mouth Has Been", TimeOut, February 23-March 7

"You Don't Know Where Her Mouth Has Been", Highsnobette, Diane McClure, February 1

"The Whitney Biennial Catalog", Whitney Museum of American Art

2011 "A Griot for A Global Village", The New York Times, Holland Cotter, December 8

"Evidence of Accumulation", Goings On About Town: Art, The New Yorker, September 12

"Uptown, Turning Over a New Motif", The Wall Street Journal, July 12, by Pia Catton

2010 "Else", Art in Review, The New York Times, Holland Cotter, September 24

2009 Studio Visit, STUDIO Magazine: The Studio Museum of Harlem, Uri McMillan, Fall

2008 "Introducing Simone Leigh", Modern Painters, Quinn Latimer, November

Art Review, “Collective Strangeness in Hartford” The New York Times, Benjamin Gennochio, December 21

Art in Review, “The Future As Disruption”, The New York Times, Karen Roxenberg, August 1

“The Future As Disruption”, critic’s picks, ARTFORUM.com, Colby Chamberlain, July

“New York Summer Shows: Artinfo.com, Claire Barliant, July

“Futures Exchange”, Rhizome, Ed Halter, July 7

SUPERNATURE, Small Axe, A Journal of Carribean Cultural Criticism, Issue 28, February

2007 The Artist’s Kitchen, Recycled and Curated, The New York Times, Penelope Green, June 14

2006 SIMONE LEIGH, REBEL SOUL, TRACE Magazine, Issue #66, Yolanda Sangweni, October

The Thinkers, ANGLE, A Journal of Arts and Culture, Douglas Max Utter, Issue 29

Wild Girls, Flavorpill, issue 327, September 12

Women Gone Wild, The Next Generation of Provocative Female Artists, New York Blade, Rafael

Risemberg, July 31

They Called Her Hottentot: The Art, Science and Fiction of Sarah Baartman, anthology edited by Deborah Willis-Kennedy and Carla Williams, February

2005 “Goings On About Town: Art,” The New Yorker, January 17

“Dateline Brooklyn” ARTnet Magazine, Stephen Maine

“In the Realm of the senses: Lisa DiLillo and Simone Leigh,” Flavorpill, issue 241, January 6

2004 “Brooklyn Artist Who Prefers To Show Others’ Work” The New York Times, Penelope Green,

February, 8

2001 “Freedom of Exclusion: The Rise of the Female Spirit in Contemporary Art” L.P Streifeld, NYArts

Magazine, December

“Some Laughing Matters, Women’s Art exhibit: More than funny, girl” Steve Parks, Newsday, March

“Bawdy Burlesque, Raucous Ribaldry”, NYArts Magazine, Deborah Frizzell, April

LECTURES/SYMPOSIA/SCREENINGS
2014 Public Lecture: San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco

2013  Visiting Artist Lecture Series, Columbia University, New York NY Performa Institue
           "GET READY FOR THE MARVELOUS: BLACK SURREALISM IN DAKAR, FORT-DE-FRANCE,
           HAVANA, JOHANNESBURG, NEW YORK CITY, PARIS, PORT-AU-PRINCE, 1932-2013"
           Conference NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human
           Development organized by Adrienne Edwards

2012  Ancient to Future: Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts and Simone Leigh, a conversation with
           Claire Barliant, LIVE at the NYPL, New York Public Library
           Radical Freedom: Feminist Collaborations and Hybrid Aesthetics, Simone Leigh and
           Chitra Ganesh, Center for The Humanities, CUNY Graduate Center
           BREAKDOWN, artist talk and video screening, with Liz Magic Laser, Brooklyn
Museum
           Rhode Island School of Design, Visting Artist Lecture, Providence, RI
           New York University, Visiting Artist Lecture, New York, NY

2011  Kessler conversations: In Memory of Monique Wittig, Simone Leigh and Chitra
           Ganesh, CLAGS, November 28, 2011, moderated by Dean Daderko, CUNY
           Graduate Center
           Caribbean Cultural Production, The Caribbean Epistemologies Symposium, March
           29, 2011, Center for the Humanities, CUNY Graduate Center
           Parsons School of the Arts, Visiting Artist Lecture organized by Coco Fusco

2010  Rutger's University, Visiting Artist Lecture, Rutgers, New Jersey

2007  Fine Art Work Center, Visiting Artist Lecture, Provincetown, Mass
Mining History, Contemporary Art, The African American Museum in Philadelphia
and the Tyler School of Art, moderated by Sophie Sanders

2005  Unparalleled salon, with Carrie Yamaoka, curated by Martha Southgate, Stacey
D’Erasmo and Bliss Broyard,

2001  Symposium for the creation of the David Driskell Center on Africa and The
           Americas, panel on the Art of the African Diaspora, University of Maryland, College
           Park, moderated by Carla Peterson
           Women’s Caucus for Art Conference, Chicago, Il, “Body Language: Image and
           Art”, moderated by Marianne Woods

2000  “Slave Markets, Lynched Bodies and Hottentot Vessels: The Black Female Body in
19th. and 20th Century Art”, Feminist Art and Art History
Conference, Barnard College, New York, NY, moderated by Adrienne Childs

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