EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
Recipient of the prestigious Golden Lion prize for Best National Participation at the 2022 Venice Biennale, acclaimed British artist Sonia Boyce DBE RA brings Feeling Her Way to the AGO for its second North American presentation. This captivating installation combines video, collage, music and sculpture.
Feeling Her Way centers the vocal performances of four female musicians: Jacqui Dankworth, Poppy Ajudha, Sofia Jernberg, and Tanita Tikaram in a playful and thought-provoking visual and auditory experience. Brought together by Boyce at Abbey Road Studios in London and Atlantis Studios in Stockholm, the vocalists were guided by composer Errollyn Wallen through improvisation, imagination, and exploration.
Spanning across two adjacent galleries, the audience will encounter colour-tinted videos that take centre stage among immersive and tessellating wallpapers created by Boyce, as well as gold 3D geometric sculptures, and a rich display of music memorabilia from the artist’s ongoing collection documenting the transnational contributions made by Black British female musicians.
This site-specific installation is presented at the AGO in partnership with the Toronto Biennial of Art 2024.
The Canadian presentation of Sonia Boyce: Feeling Her Way is initiated and organized by the PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art. The work was originally commissioned by the British Council for the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, 2022.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sonia Boyce DBE RA (born 1962) is a British interdisciplinary artist and academic working across film, drawing, photography, print, sound, and installation.
A key figure in the Black Arts Movement in the early 1980s, Boyce continues to address issues of race and gender in Britain. Her recent work explores the intersection of art and social practice. She utilizes performance and audio-visual elements, encouraging collaboration, improvisation, and participation to blur the lines between artist and audience.
In 2024, the artist received an DBE for art services in the King’s New Year Honours List and holds Honorary Doctorates from the Royal College of Art, The Courtauld, and Birmingham City University, UK. Her work appears in the collections of many British and international museums, including the TATE in London, Saastamoinen Foundation in