"Brick House" - by Simone Leigh

Simone Leigh infused the design of "Brick House" with architecture concepts and techniques which originated in West Africa, as well as the American South. The Batammaliba architecture from Benin and Togo; the Mousgoum people of Chad and Cameroon; and the restaurant Mammy’s Cupboard, in Natchez, Mississippi all served as inspiration from which Leigh derived the design for "Brick House."

The Batammaliba people of northeast Togo, whose name translates to "those who are the real architects of the earth," believe in an interconnected relationship that humans have with their environment and the architecture which they create. The designs and shapes of their homes, places of worship, and buildings for public gatherings are meant to resemble the form of the human body.

Additionally, Leigh took inspiration for "Brick House" from a restaurant located in Natchez, Mississippi called "Mammy's Cupboard." Opened in 1940, the brick restaurant was designed to resemble a large, caricatured Black woman wearing a bright red skirt and matching scarf on her head. The design of the restaurant was based upon the racist archetype of the "mammy" figure - a Black female domestic worker whose image can bee seen in products as well as novels and films like "Gone With the Wind." Recognizing that this caricatured archetype represents Black women's bodies by the labor she provides, Leigh wished to utilize the metaphor of the body as a function. Her design seeks to provide an intersection of positive images of Black women with the architecture of the Batammaliba people as a response to these caricatures.

After the transfer of "Brick House" on the Spur on the New York City High Line in 2019, Simone Leigh was thrilled with the placement of the sculpture. Leigh begs the question: "What better place to put a Black female figure?" Answering her own question with an insight into her work of art, Leigh states that "Brick House" is perfect where it is because it acts: "Not in defiance of the space, exactly, but to have a different idea of beauty there." "Brick House" allows those who actively engage with public art to think critically about the architecture of a city and its cultural implications.

Aridi, Sara. ‘Brick House’ Is Installed at the High Line, The New York Times. April 4th 2019. Accessed November 13th 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/arts/design/high-line-simone-leigh-brick-house.html?auth=login-google.

Kennedy, Mark. https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-race-and-ethnicity-new-york-sculpture-e1f69693eaf5e106cdfa0cc90bc1cded Click to copy RELATED TOPICS Entertainment Race and ethnicity New York Travel Sculpture Massive Simone Leigh sculpture now greets Penn students, AP News. November 10th 2020. Accessed November 13th 2020.

Whiteford, Meg. The Making of Simone Leigh’s Brick House, Hauser & Wirth. Accessed November 13th 2020. https://www.hauserwirth.com/ursula/28500-making-simone-leighs-brick-house.