Sophie Friedman-Pappas
Overview
In the tactile material quality of the retro-future, Sophie Friedman-Pappas creates work of ambiguous origins and times. Her practice is informed by the recent history of industrialisation starting from her family's origins in the island of Samos. There, a large complex of 58 tanneries was once the economic centre of the island. Today, the unused factories lie in ruins as a fragmentary monument to the promise of industry - some of which has been preserved to make way for apartments and Airbnbs that once again, promise the arrival of wealth from today's new chains of decentralised tourist industry. The buildings contain the haunting glimmers of the leather of animals and the hides they once produced. This follows Friedman-Pappas to her life in New York City where the drawing Hudson and Duane indicates its position in Tribeca which today hosts scores of galleries dedicated to contemporary art. The drawing depicts a bird flying over a languid hide stuck and splayed across slanted cellar doors - birds are famously omens of what is to come within Greek mythology as well as the producers of the sought-after fertilizing guano which is nitrogen-rich pigeon shit.
Biography
Sophie Friedman-Pappas (b. 1995, New York, USA) graduated from BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, 2017, and now in University of California at Los Angeles. Selected solo/ two-person exhibitions: Hannah Black and Sophie Friedman-Pappas, Meredith Rosen Gallery, New York, NY, 2022; Transfer Station. Organized by Octagon (Moira Sims). Alyssa Davis Gallery. New York, NY, 2021, etc. Selected group exhibitions: Scouring. Meredith Rosen Gallery. New York, NY, 2022; The Devil You Know. Simone Subal Gallery. New York, NY, 2022; All I remember now. in lieu. Los Angeles, CA, 2021; shit!, Cuchifritos. New York, NY. Curated by TJ Shin, 2021; Rough and Ready. Kathryn Markel Gallery. New York, NY, curated by Fran Shalom, 2021; 100 Sculptures. Anonymous Gallery. New York, NY, curated by Joseph Ian Henrikson, 2021; Banquet. in lieu. Los Angeles, CA, 2019, etc. Selected residences: Pergamena Parchment and Leathers, Montgomery, NY. 2022; Freshkills Park Artist Partner. Staten Island, NY. 2019-2020, etc. Selected publications: Jessica S. Kwok, "The Evolutionary and Revolutionary Thresholds of Hannah Black and Sophie Friedman-Pappas," Frieze, 2021, etc.
Exhibitions
Enquire