Documented artwork / monumental bronze sculpture, Houston example
Satellite (Houston example)
Credit as documented: Simone Leigh
This record covers the Houston example of Simone Leigh’s Satellite at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The bronze combines a torso carried on four supports with a large disc-shaped head. The museum reports a height of 24 feet and a weight close to 6,000 pounds. Its interpretation connects the figure with maternity, dignity and Leigh’s recognition of Black women’s often undervalued physical and intellectual labor. The documented Houston display is beside the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building’s entry plaza, near Cristina Iglesias’s water sculpture. MFAH describes the display as permanent. The museum’s collection entry identifies object 2022.191 and lists an edition numbered 1/2, with one artist’s proof; its prose calls the sculpture a second cast, while the gallery and press pages call Houston’s example the second edition. Those different descriptions are retained rather than converted into a claim that this is numbered cast 2/2. Venice and Boston presentations are excluded from this record’s installation history because physical cast continuity is not established.
Already working on a project?
Adds directly to your existing saved project and keeps its brief intact.Documented work. Current availability, ownership and installation requirements must be confirmed with the artist.
At a glance
- Year / version
- 2022 (MFAH collection work date; exact casting date not established)
- Materials
- bronze
- Documented setting
- outdoor
- Dimensions
- 24 feet high; weight nearly 6,000 pounds.
- Dimensions apply to
- MFAH-published height and approximate weight for its Houston display; no transferred ICA width/depth or transport specifications.
- Availability
- Unconfirmed
Places & versions
Installation history
Historical presentations. A past installation does not establish the current location or suitability for a new site.
Installed by December 4, 2023 announcement; ongoing display reviewed October 17, 2026; exact installation day not stated
Nancy and Rich Kinder Building entry plaza, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
- Site
- Nancy and Rich Kinder Building entry plaza
- City
- Houston
- State / region
- TX
- Country
- United States (inferred; not independently confirmed)
- Historical siting
- permanent
- Setting
- outdoor
- Date meaning
- documented
Installation details checked 2026-10-17.
Materials and construction
The museum collection record lists the medium as bronze, edition 1/2, with 1 AP, while its description says second cast and the gallery/press text says second edition. These source phrases are not treated as interchangeable numbered-edition identifiers.
MFAH announced the Houston installation on December 4, 2023. That announcement establishes installation by that date, not the exact installation day. The collection’s 2022 work date is separate from the Houston siting.
The collection entry lists a 2022 Venice exhibition, but its description calls Houston a second cast. Without clarification of that catalog history, neither Venice nor Boston is assigned to this physical example.
From a reference to your project
Keep the idea.
Shape the brief.
Save this reference to your shortlist while you explore. Review your selection, then carry the references you choose into a commissioning brief for your site, audience, timing and open questions.
Your shortlist is saved on this device. Saving a reference does not contact the artist or reserve a work. Participation, availability, price and site suitability need confirmation.
Plan the next step
Sources
- emuseum.mfah.org ↗ · Checked 2026-10-17
- www.mfah.org ↗ · Checked 2026-10-17
- www.mfah.org ↗ · Checked 2026-10-17