
Apolonia Sokol is a French figurative painter of Danish and Polish descent graduated from École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. She 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 and domination. That is why she addresses multiple issues such as feminisms, queerness, women's representation throughout art history and body politics in general.
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: Deviance, Performance, Resistance curated by Vincent Honoré at the MOCO Museum La Panacée and Conversation Piece VII Verso Narragonia (Towards Narragonia) curated by Marcello Smarrelli at the Fondazione Memmo in Rome as well as Women and Change at ARKEN Museum (Copenhagen, Denmark), Women painting Women curated by Andrea Karnes at The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (Texas, USA) and A Sentimental Choice curated by Anael Pigeat and Sophie Vigourous at Fondation Ricard (Paris, France).
In 2020, Apolonia Sokol was the laureate of the prestigious Academy of France and became one of the residents of Villa Medici for 2020-2021. HBO MAX & Danish Contemporary co-produced a documentary which recently premiered in Amsterdam's International Film Festival and was awarded The Best Film (International Competition) at IDFA. The documentary is directed by Lea Glob who has followed Sokol over the past decade. Sokol teaches at the Fine Arts Academy of Caen, Esam.
ArtPress 458_Richard Leydier – Introducing Apolonia Sokol
Based Istanbul_Yağmur Koç – The Female Body Is More Than What’s Portrayed: Apolonia Sokol
Sokol, peindre l'intime et la tribu
Manifesto XXI - La Femme Transcendante. Entretien avec Apolonia Sokol.
Numéro - Rencontre avec Apolonia Sokol
Beaux Arts - Comment les écoféministes régénèrent le monde ?
Discovering Emerging and Undersung Players - The New York Times
La peintre Apolonia Sokol ouvre grand ses toiles au théâtre de l’intimité - Le Monde