In Venice, Simone Leigh reimagines colonial narratives

New yorkers visiting the Venice Biennale may recognise Simone Leigh’s “Brick House”. In 2019, as the first work commissioned for the High Line plinth, this monumental bronze bust surveyed Manhattan’s 10th Avenue from above. Three years later, the figure has crossed the Atlantic and greets visitors entering the Arsenale in Venice.

Part woman, part architecture, the figure’s “skirt” evokes a west African dwelling. The face is framed by perfect braids, each one tipped with a cowrie shell. There are no eyes on the statue yet cleverly placed lighting brings a gleam to her eyeless “gaze” and makes this 16-foot (4.9-metre) sculpture serene yet deeply mysterious. A work of astonishing power, it has garnered Ms Leigh a Golden Lion for the best contribution to “The Milk of Dreams”, the Biennale’s central exhibition.