Apolonia Sokol

Born in 1988 in Paris, Apolonia Sokol is a French figurative painter of Danish and Polish descent. After graduating from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, she moved to the United States and settled in New York where she worked in the studio of painter Dan Colen. She later moved to Los Angeles where she befriended other artists and painters with whom she started an ongoing conversation on figurative painting.

Sokol is known for her political stance on the art of portraiture, claiming the need to use it as a tool of empowerment and deconstruction of marginalization or domination. That is why she addresses multiple issues such as feminisms, queerness, women's representation throughout art history and body politics in general. 
Apolonia Sokol exhibited her work in Copenhagen, Brussels, Paris, Istanbul, Mexico City, Rome, Los Angeles and her work has been included in institutional exhibitions, such as: Tainted Love / Club Edit at the Villa Arson in 2019 (curated by Yann Chevallier), Aux sources des années 1980, at the Musée de l’Abbaye Sainte-Croix, Sables d’Olonne, in 2019 (curated by Amélie Adamo), Mademoiselle at the Crac Occitanie in 2018 (curated by Tara Londi), Tainted Love, inaugural exhibition at the Comfort Moderne in 2017 (curated by Yann Chevalier), Peindre, dit-elle at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dole in 2017 (curated by Julie Crenn).
Her most recent institutional exhibitions include Possessed curated by Vincent Honoré at the MOCO Museum and Conversation Piece VII Verso Narragonia (Towards Narragonia) curated by Marcello Smarrelli at the Fondazione Memmo in Rome. 
She was selected for the Emerige prize in 2018 and winner of the Antoine Marin prize for painting. 
HBO & Danish Documentary are producing a documentary on the artist’s journey, directed by Lea Glob who has been following over the last decade.

SOLO SHOWS:

2021: ARCO E-XHIBITIONS, The Ship of Fools, The Digital Space of the Community 

2018: THE PILL POP UP, BRUSSELS

2018: I HAD TROUBLE SLEEPING, BUT SHE SAID SHE LOVED ME…, The Pill, Istanbul

2016: HEARTBREAK HOTEL, Dutko Gallery, Paris, France

2016: SABBATH, Andersen's Contemporary, Copenhagen, Danemark

2016: WALKER EVANS/ APOLONIA SOKOL, ATTIC, Sebastien Ricou, Brussels, Belgium

2016: PROCESS IS DESIRE, whitcherprojects, LOS ANGELES, USA - Curated by Isabelle Le Normand

GROUP SHOWS :

2020 : Fondazione Memmo Roma, Group show, Conversation Piece, Part VII, Towards Narragonia, Italy, Rome

2020 : Mo.Co. Montpellier Contemporain, Group show, Possessed, France

2020 : Arco Madrid Art Fair (The Pill), Duo Show with Soufiane Ababri, Spain 

2019 : Meterail Art Fair (The Pill), Duo Show with Soufiane Ababri, Mexico

2019 : TAINTED LOVE II, Villa Arson, Nice /curator : Yann Chevalier

2019 : Mais pas du tout, c’est platement figuratif ! Toi tu es spirituelle mon amour, Galerie Jousse Entreprise, Paris / curator Anael Pigeat & Sophie Vigourous

2018 : Mademoiselle, CRAC Sete, France / curator Tara Londi

2018 : SALLE DE PAS-PERDUS, Le Doc, Paris/curator : Michel Francois & Richard Venlet

2018 : ONE LONG CHANGING BODY, Carlier-Gebauer Berlin Germany

2018: I AM WHAT I AM, Ici.gallery, Paris/ curator: Julie Crenn

2018: J'AIME, Galerie Henri Chartier, Lyon/ curator: Marion Bataillard

2018: TAINTED LOVE, Confort Moderne, Poitiers/ curator: Yann Chevallier

2017: EN FORME DE VERTIGE, Révélation Emerige Prize, Villa Emerige, Paris/ curator: Gaël Charbau - 2017: SURREAL HOUSE, The Pill, Istanbul / curator: Suela Cennet

2017 : PEINDRE DIT-ELLE #2 Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole, FRANCE / curator: Julie Crenn, Anabelle Teneze and Amélie Lavin

2017: QUATRIÈME SEXE, Galerie Le Coeur, Paris / curator: Marie Maertens

2016: TOUTE PREMIÈRE FOIS, 22 Visconti, Paris, France - curated by Francesca Napolie & Armelle Leturcq

2016: MATIN MIDI SOIR, Honoré Visconti, Paris France

2016: BERLIN EST, GAD Paris- Belleville, Paris France

2016: RAVI, Liège, Belgium - Curated by XAVIER MARY

2015: COLLECTION TYPE# 3, GAD Grand Local, Paris

2015: YES TO ALL, Treize, Paris

2015: LIFE AIN’T FAIR #2, Galerie Arnaud Deschin, Tourtour, France -2015: LIFE AIN’T FAIR, Galerie Arnaud Deschin, Paris

2015: SELECTIVE MEMORIES, Griffin Gallery, London

RESIDENCY & GRANT:  

2020-2021: Academy of Rome, Villa Medici Grantee