“The Hugo Boss Prize 2018: Simone Leigh, Loophole of Retreat”

The Guggenheim bestows the twelfth edition of its annual $100,000 prize and accompanying solo exhibition to sculptor Simone Leigh whose work could be described as a kind of homage to the strength and fortitude that African-American women have displayed in the face of adversity throughout American history, from the travails of slavery to the Black Lives Matter protests of today. One such figure was Harriet Jacobs (1813–1897), and abolitionist and former slave who wrote a harrowing account of her years hiding from her masters in the rafters of her grandmother’s house. Her story provides the inspiration for the exhibition, which includes ceramic objects and a sound installation. This year has shaped up to be a huge one for the Chicago-born artist: In addition to this show, she’s appeared in the 2019 Whitney Biennial, and has also inaugurated the High Line’s new public art platform, The Plinth, with a monumental, 16-foot-tall bust of a black woman.