American artist Simone Leigh will present the largest exhibition of her career to date at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in late 2027, according to officials at the prestigious institution. The comprehensive show will bring together her signature bronze and ceramic sculptures alongside film works in large-scale installations, with Leigh creating monumental new pieces specifically for the exhibition.

The Royal Academy exhibition will be curated by Tarini Malik, who previously organized the acclaimed show featuring works by Ghanaian-British artist John Akomfrah in the British Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. Leigh herself made history by representing the United States at the 2022 Venice Biennale, becoming the first Black woman to secure this prestigious commission.

In discussing her upcoming London exhibition with The Guardian, Leigh revealed that a central theme will be architecture and art created under fascist regimes. "I've been thinking about American history a lot in the development of these works because we're now living under full-on fascism here," she explained. "I've been thinking about the kind of art that's made under fascism."

The artist expressed serious concerns about the current state of cultural institutions in America. "All institutions are under attack," Leigh stated. "I know of artists who have signed contracts to do commissions and these commissions have been either stalled or cancelled for anti-DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] reasons. So it's really happening – I'm more than concerned, it's getting a little scary." Her comments come in the wake of President Donald Trump's January executive order titled "Ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing," which effectively terminated DEI initiatives across federal institutions.

Born in Chicago, Leigh has built her reputation through sculpture, video, performance and social projects that examine race, history and gender, with a particular focus on the Black female experience. Her artistic practice draws inspiration from ancient African and African-American objects, as well as ethnography, architectural history, feminist criticism and chronicles of political resistance. She works with diverse materials including ceramics, raffia and bronze.

Leigh's career achievements include receiving the prestigious Hugo Boss Prize from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 2018. She was featured in the 2019 Whitney Biennial and created the monumental piece "Brick House" (2018-19), a 16-foot-tall bust of a Black woman, for the High Line in Manhattan. This same work earned her the Golden Lion at the 2022 Venice Biennale when it was included in the main exhibition "Milk of Dreams."

In a 2019 interview, Leigh discussed her artistic practice and some of her key works, including "Free People's Medical Clinic" (2014) and "Head with Cobalt" (2018). The upcoming Royal Academy exhibition represents a significant milestone in her career, offering an opportunity to present her most comprehensive body of work while addressing urgent contemporary political themes.