Sophie Jung (lives in London and Basel) works across text, sculpture and performance, navigating the politics of re/re/representation and challenging the selective silencing that happens by concluding.
She employs humor, shame, the absurd, raw anger, rhythm and rhyme, slapstick, hardship, friendship and a constant stream of slippages.
Her sculptural work consists of bodies made up of both found and haphazardly produced attributes and defines itself against the dogma of an Original Idea or a Universal Significance. Instead it stands as a network of abiding incompletion, an ever changing choir of urgencies and pleasures, traumas and manifestations that communally relay between dominant and minor themes.
She’s invested in triggering a de-categorizing of concepts and a de-conceptualization of categories, hopes for agnostic alliances, cross-material solidarity and assemblages that defy resolution. Her approach to “stuff”—both legible utensil and metaphoric apparition sits somewhere between materialist responsibility and wild becoming. Her writing exists in the tradition of écriture feminine and lives as polyvocal collage, often materialized and extended collaboratively.
Selected exhibitions include Genius Loci at Kunstverein Ludwigshafen; Reifiction at Diana Gallery; Move at Centre Pompidou, Paris; Roma, A Portrait at Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome; They take it seriously, I think it’s interesting at Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe; Sanetroyem at E. A. Shared Space in Tbilisi; Unsetting at Istituto Svizzero, Milan; Sincerity Condition at Casino Luxembourg; Taxpayer’s Money for Frieze LIVE; Dramatis Personae at JOAN, LA; The Bigger Sleep at Kunstmuseum Basel. Upcoming shows include a solo show at Des Bains, London and at Kunsthalle Bern in 2026. She is currently working on her first monograph with Mousse Publishing. In 2016 and in 2019 she won the Swiss Art Awards and in 2018 she was the recipient of the Manor Kunstpreis.
Soloshows and projects
upcoming
_Kunsthalle Bern, CH
_Matts Gallery, London, UK
_Des Bains, London, UK (postponed due to pregnancy)
2024
Geplante Ausstellungen Matt’s Gallery, London und Des Bains, London wegen Schwangerschaft auf 2025 verschoben.
2023
_Reifiction, Diana*, Milan, IT
_Morally Pure with Virginie Sistek, Provence, Zürich, CH
_Broken in Three Places with Maeve Brennen, A plus A Galllery, Venice, IT
2022
_Parrhesiades, London, UK
2021
_M’aider, Mayday Basel, CH
_Sanetroyem, E. A. Shared Space, Tbilisi, GE
_The Hindsighters’ Children, Vitrine Gallery, London, UK
2020
_Preluge - Galerie Joseph Tang, Paris, FR
_Unsetting - Istituto Svizzero Milano, IT
_They Might Stay The Night - Casino Luxembourg, LU
_Leadeyes and Gentlament Please Put Your Ands Together And And And - Transmissions, UK
2019
_Woman Standing, National Gallery Prague, CZ
_Taxpayer’s Money, Frieze Live, London, UK
_The Bigger Sleep -rehush (hush), Cork Street Galleries as part of Block Universe, London, UK _The Day Teaches The Day, Cabaret Voltaire, Zürich, CH
_Dramatis Personae, JOAN, Los Angeles, US
2018
_The Bigger Sleep, Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart, CH
_Paramount VS Tantamount, Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris, FR
_Come Fresh Hell or Fresh High Water, Blain Southern, London, UK
_Thusly, Pimary, Nottingham, UK
2017
_It’s Not What It Looks Like, Sophie Tappeiner, Vienna, AT
_Producing My Credentials, Kunstraum, London, UK
2016
_, as we all know, Nosbaum Reding Projects, Luxembourg, LU
2015
_New Waiting, Temnikova & Kasela, Tallinn, EE
_Ode on a Grecian Holiday, Ruine München, Saarbrücken, DE
2014
_Between the lines: A cleverer woman or a more sincere one, Sophie Jung & Germaine Hoffmann, Belle Air, Essen, LU & DE
_Double, with Shana Moulton, Medienwerkstatt Wien for Vienna Art Week, Vienna, AT
_The Sorcerer and her Apprentice, with my grandmother Germaine Hoffmann, Op der Kap, Capellen, LU
2013
_Learning About Heraldry, Ceri Hand Gallery, London, UK
_Touch that Angel, Touch my Angle, AICA Kiosk, Luxembourg, LU
Groupshows and projects
2025
_Drink Me, Spielzeug NYC, curated by Qingyuan Deng and Evan Karas,
_Offene Beziehungen, Kunstmuseum Basel Gegenwart, CH
_Swiss Art Awards, Basel, CH - June
_ Saïat Nova, Ora et Lege, Bila Hora Monastery, Prague, CZ - June 22 - September 28
_Performance programme for Decorama, MCBA, CH
_Genius Loci – Notes on Places, Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, DE
2024
_Coloss drum, Performance for Vienna Contemporary, AT _Conversations ART Basel, CH
_Tragodia, Performance for Basel Social Club, Basel, CH _Intension, Copperfield Gallery, London, UK
_The Colour of Energy, Salzburger Kunstverein, AT
_Ahoi Ahoi des Admirales, Galerie Barbara Seiler, Zürich, CH _Critical Cringe, Fondation Beyeler, Basel, CH
2023
_Dropping the Cannons Drooping the Canons, Istituto Svizzero, Roma, IT
_Move, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
_Roma, a portrait, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma, IT
_The Gleaners, Krone Couronne, Biel, CH
_Tonsure, Palazzo Bachetta, Treviglio, IT
_Liste with E. A. Shared Space, Basel, CH
_Dans L’Air Les Machines Volantes, Hangar Y, Art Explora, Paris Meudon, FR
_They Take It Seriously, I Think It’s Interesting, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, DE
2022
_Wenn der Wind Weht, Kunst Haus Wien, AT
_T Ache Me D Own, Swiss Art Awards, Basel, CH
2021
_Pommel, Nottingham Contemporary, UK
_To Do With So Much Mythology, Curated By Francesco Pedraglio, Galerie Martin Janda, Vienna, AT _There Was a Person, Performance for Art Verona
_Freigeister, MUDAM, LU
_Stitches, curated by Collectif Détente at Le Commun, Bâtiment d’art contemporain, Geneva, CH
2020
_Je me n’ennui pas, en m’ennui, Centre culturel suisse, Paris, FR
2019
_Widerstehlich, Nidwaldner Museum, CH
_Are We Bodies, performance program by Vlada Tcharyeva, Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich, CH
_Being Towards The World, Sophie Tappeiner, Vienna, AT
_If it’s not meant to last, then it’s a performance, Vitrine, Basel, CH
2018
_Extra States - Nations in Liquidation, curated by iLiana Fokianaki, Kunsthal Extra City, Antwerp, BE
_The Power of Now, Kunsthaus Pasquart, curated by Samuel Leuenberger and Felicity Lunn, Biel, CH
_Keren Citter’s The First Morning Fest of Unreasonable Acts, Palazzo Bentivoglio, Bologna, IT
_The Annotated Reader, curated by Ryan Gander and Jonathan P. Watts, Cork Street Galleries, London, UK
_A Guiding Dog For A Blind Dog, Future Gallery, Prague, CZ
_The Ol’Switcheroo, Jupiter Woods, London, UK
_New Swiss Performance Now, Kunsthalle Basel, CH
2017
_Cosmic Words, Municipal Gallery, Lisbon, PT
_Indique La Fin, Signe La Débauche, Atelier Meraki, Paris, FR
_Liste Performance Project, curated by Eva Birkenstock, Basel, CH
_Again, It Objects, Supplement Gallery, New York, US
2016
_You Talkin To Me? Galerie Barbara Seiler, Zürich, CH
_Unmittelbare Konsequenzen, Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, CH
_The Printed Room - Works off Paper, curated by Harry Burke, SALTS, Basel, CH
_Swiss Art Awards (Winner), Basel, CH
_Not Everything Ties Down / Your Split Ends Are Showing, DKUK Salon, London, UK
_Tarantallegra, curated by Nicoletta Lambertucci at Hester, New York, US
_Down To Write You This Poem Sat, Oakville Galleries, Ontario, CA
_Keren Cytter’s First Summer Fest of Western Liberation, Réunion, Zürich, CH
_You said suicide and I think half a boat is very broken. Lithuanian pavilion, XXI Triennale di Milano, Milan, IT
_Club of the Crowd, Performance for Local Transport, Southbank Centre, London, UK
_X-Examination, Performance for Fiktion at ICA, London, UK
_Jumanji, Soft Focus Institute, Galerie Tatjana Pieters, Ghent, BE
2015
_Jungs, hier kommt der Masterplan, Kunsthalle Basel, CH
_Absent Image, Nectar, Tbilisi, GE
_Steichen! Making Meaning of a Legacy, BOZAR, BE
_Fuera de Sitio, Gallery José Luis de la Fuente, ES
_ISCP Open Studios, ISCP New York, US
_Online commission for Inflected Objects #1 curated by Melanie Bühler for Instituto Svizzero in Milan, IT
_Uncanny Valley at Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge, UK
_äppärät, curated by Tom Morton, Ballroom Marfa, US
_Konzentration, Fiktion, Launch at HKW, Berlin, DE
_Eternal Internet Brother/Sisterhood with Angelo Plessas, Carrara, IT
_Dear Luxembourg (Yours, Bucktoothed GRL), Nosbaum Reding Projects, Luxembourg, LU
2014
_Panda Sex, curated by Tom Morton, State of Concept, Athens, GR
_read the room / you’ve got to, curated by Quinn Latimer, S.A.L.T.S., Basel, CH
_Pick-me-ups & pick-ups, ICA London, UK
_NY-LUX, MUDAM Luxembourg, LU
_Episode 5: in the beginning, Insitu, Berlin, DE
2013
_We Proudly Present, Kunstraum Riehen, CH
_HAUS: towards a messy singularity #fuckfrieze, curated by Jesse Darling and Takeshi Shiomitsu, London, UK
_Ma(r)king Territories, Haus für Elektronische Künste Basel, CH
_Changes - Chancen, Depot Basel, CH
_Side Dishes, You Shine I Shine, Die Diele, Zürich, ZH
_Implausible Imposters, Ceri Hand Gallery, London, UK
_Rencontres International, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, DE
2012
_A Word for a Play, Kunsthaus Baselland, CH
_Rencontres International, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR
_zeichnen zeichnen, toujours toujours, Kunsthalle Mulhouse, FR
_A4 - an exhibition on a piece of website, Kunstgebaude Stuttgart Schlossplatz, Stuttgart, DE
2011
_I did it again, Kunsthaus L6, Freiburg, DE
_Teenage Magazines, FOAM, Amsterdam, NL _Information und Erfahrung, Kunstverein Freiburg, DE
_Marcel and Friends, Recyclart, Brussels, BE
Performance / Lesungen / Screenings
Bristol Diving School, Bristol, UK; The Common Guild, Glasgow, UK; Photographers’ Gallery, London, UK; Jupiter Woods, London, UK; X Marks the Bökship, London, UK; HKW Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, DE; Space, London, UK; Institute of Contemporary Arts ICA, London, UK; MUDAM, Luxembourg, LU; Wysing Arts Center, UK; Kunsthalle Basel, CH; ISCP, New York, US; Institut Kunst, Basel, CH; Réunion, Zürich, CH; Horse Hospital for The White Review, London, UK; Southbank Centre, London, UK; Almanac, London, UK; Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, CH; David Roberts Art Foundation as part of Frieze Academy, London, UK; CalArts, LA, US; Cabaret Voltaire, Zürich, CH; JOAN LA, US; South London Gallery, London, UK
Reviews and features (selected)
2024 Flash Art (cover)
2022 Passe Avant (online)
2020 Mousse Magazine (online) 2020 Flash Art (print)
2019 Frieze Magazine (online) 2019 The Art Newspaper (online) 2019 The Quietus (online)
2019 The Wire (print)
2018 The Art Newspaper (online) 2018 Apollo (online)
2018 Elephant (online)
2017 Frieze Magazine (online) 2017 thisistomorrow (online) 2017 Art Monthly (cover)
2016 Studio international (online) 2013 Frieze Magazine (print)
Publications
upcoming
Sincerity Condition, Mousse Publishing with original contributions by Quinn Latimer, Chus Martinez, Leonie Hunter, Cédric Fauq, Jesse Darling, Hélène Cixous, Estelle Hoy
2021 Hoax Publication
2021 The Happy Hypocrite, ed. Maria Fusco and Lizzie Homersham, Bookworks 2021 Intertitles, ed. Lynton Talbot and Hana Noorali, Prototype Press
2020 Seen from Here, ed. Tim Etchells and Vlatka Horvath
2020 On Care, ed. Rebecca Jagoe and Sharon Kivland, Ma Bibliothèque
2018 PALE Journal
2018 Paperwork Magazine I & II,
2017 Producing My Credentials, Partisan Hotel
2015 Konzentration, ed. Ingo Nierman, Fiktion.cc
2012 Journal of Visual Arts Practice, Intellect
Teaching / Lectures / Tutorials
_Yale School of Art
_CalArts LA
_ZHdK Zürich
_Goldsmiths, University of London
_RCA - Royal College of Art, London
_Institut Kunst, FHNW, Basel
_Hyperwerk, Basel
_Christies Education, London
_Critique et Essais - Écriture de l’art contemporain” Strasbourg's University
_Malmö Art Academy
_Central Saint Martins, London
_Fine Art, the Art & Design Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University
_RA - Royal Academy, London
_The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL
_Akademie der Bildenden Künste. Karlsruhe
Education
2015 ISCP New York
2015 MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths, University of London
2011 BFA Fine Art, Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam
2009 BFA Photography / New Media ZHdK, Zürich