Sonia Boyce, Golden Lion Winner, Joins Hauser & Wirth

Sonia Boyce b. 1962, United Kingdom Follow +

Swiss gallery Hauser & Wirth has announced that it now represents artist Sonia Boyce in collaboration with Italy’s Apalazzo Gallery.

‘A remarkable pioneer, Sonia’s highly original practice combines not only conceptual rigour and joyful creativity, but also generosity to the audience who become active participants, along with her fellow collaborators,’ said Manuela Wirth, President of Hauser & Wirth.

‘In this way, Sonia has created a vocabulary wholly her own – consistently finding new approaches to making art that embrace experimentation with humanity and social practice at its core,’ she said.

Boyce received the Golden Lion for best national participation at the 59th Venice Biennale last year for a work that featured vocal improvisations by black women. The jury praised her for unpacking ‘a plenitude of silenced stories,’ and for raising ‘important questions of rehearsal as opposed to the perfect attuned.’

Speaking to Ocula Magazine earlier this year, Boyce said she was grappling with the aftermath of her social art projects.

‘There is a sense that there can suddenly be a spotlight on someone that’s to do with a particular issue or way of working that those involved may or may not have done before,’ she said. ‘But when the spotlight shifts, what kind of legacy is left behind? How are expectations managed both when the spotlight is on, and off?’

Boyce was previously represented by Simon Lee, but departed just months before the gallery entered court-ordered administration after more than two decades in operation. —[O]

Main image: Sonia Boyce OBE RA at the British Pavilion, 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (23 April–27 November 2022). Courtesy © British Council.