Simone Leigh: 1st Black Woman to Represent US at Biennale
2020-10-15
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Simone Leigh is known for creating large art works that represent and celebrate the experiences of Black women.
2Now she will be the first Black woman to represent the United States at the highly-respected arts festival, the Venice Biennale.
3The State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) announced the decision Wednesday.
4Leigh lives in New York City and rarely speaks to reporters.
5However, she told The New York Times newspaper that the country's bad racial climate, "doesn't distract me from the fact of how amazing it is to be a Black artist right now."
6Jill Medvedow is director of the Boston museum.
7She said in a statement: "At such a crucial moment in history, I can think of no better artist to represent the United States."
8She praised Leigh's work for the past twenty years "that centers the experiences and histories of Black women," calling them "probing, timely and urgent."
9The museum said Leigh is creating new sculptures to be shown at the 59th Biennale from April 23 to November 27, 2022.
10Leigh's works were to appear at next year's Biennale, but the coronavirus crisis delayed the festival by a year.
11The Biennale was founded in 1895.
12It has become a place for artists to call attention to current issues concerning the world.
13At the Biennale in 2019, Swiss artist Christoph Buechel presented a ship that had broken up in the Mediterranean Sea, causing 700 migrants to die.
14Leigh is known for large sculptures that use materials and forms connected with African art.
15Her work "Brick House" is a 5-meter-tall bronze sculpture of a Black woman.
16The work sits on the High Line greenway, looking down Tenth Avenue in New York City.
17Other works are included in the collections of The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and The Art Institute of Chicago, among others.
18Leigh's new works for the Biennale will include a large bronze sculpture in front of the U.S. Pavilion.
19Inside, the Pavilion will have works showing the human body, created from several materials.
20Eva Respini is the ICA's chief curator.
21She said Leigh's sculptures for the Biennale will represent Black female forms and thinking and serve as "a beacon in our moment."
22I'm Caty Weaver.
1Simone Leigh is known for creating large art works that represent and celebrate the experiences of Black women. Now she will be the first Black woman to represent the United States at the highly-respected arts festival, the Venice Biennale. 2The State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) announced the decision Wednesday. 3Leigh lives in New York City and rarely speaks to reporters. However, she told The New York Times newspaper that the country's bad racial climate, "doesn't distract me from the fact of how amazing it is to be a Black artist right now." 4Jill Medvedow is director of the Boston museum. She said in a statement: "At such a crucial moment in history, I can think of no better artist to represent the United States." She praised Leigh's work for the past twenty years "that centers the experiences and histories of Black women," calling them "probing, timely and urgent." 5The museum said Leigh is creating new sculptures to be shown at the 59th Biennale from April 23 to November 27, 2022. Leigh's works were to appear at next year's Biennale, but the coronavirus crisis delayed the festival by a year. 6The Biennale was founded in 1895. It has become a place for artists to call attention to current issues concerning the world. At the Biennale in 2019, Swiss artist Christoph Buechel presented a ship that had broken up in the Mediterranean Sea, causing 700 migrants to die. 7Leigh is known for large sculptures that use materials and forms connected with African art. Her work "Brick House" is a 5-meter-tall bronze sculpture of a Black woman. The work sits on the High Line greenway, looking down Tenth Avenue in New York City. 8Other works are included in the collections of The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and The Art Institute of Chicago, among others. 9Leigh's new works for the Biennale will include a large bronze sculpture in front of the U.S. Pavilion. Inside, the Pavilion will have works showing the human body, created from several materials. 10Eva Respini is the ICA's chief curator. She said Leigh's sculptures for the Biennale will represent Black female forms and thinking and serve as "a beacon in our moment." 11I'm Caty Weaver. 12Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on reports from the Associated Press and the Institute of Contemporary Art. Susan Shand was the editor. 13________________________________________________________________ 14Words in This Story 15festival - n. an event when people gather to celebrate something 16distract - v. to take attention away from something 17crucial - adj. extremely important 18probing - adj. asking questions in order to find hidden meaning 19sculpture - n. a piece of art that is made by molding clay, stone, metal ... 20bronze - adj. made out of metal that combines copper and tin 21curator - n. a person in charge of artworks in a museum 22beacon - n. someone or something that guides or gives hope to others