Sonia Boyce: An Awkward Relation two figures, a black female and a white male, with their hair braided together. Sonia Boyce, Exquisite Tension, 2005, Single-channel HD colour video with sound and archive colour photographic print. Video duration: 4 minutes © Sonia Boyce.All Rights Reserved, DACS/Artimage 2024Courtesy of the artist, APALAZZO GALLERY and Hauser & Wirth Gallery.

An Awkward Relation is a new exhibition from artist and educator Sonia Boyce (b.1962, London, UK).  It has been especially conceived to be in dialogue with the exhibition of Brazilian artist Lygia Clark, The I and the You showing at the Gallery concurrently.

Boyce was introduced to Clark’s work in the 1990s and felt a strong synergy with the Brazilian artist’s experiential and participatory practice.  An Awkward Relation brings together a number of pivotal and rarely seen works to explore themes of interaction, participation and improvisation – all of which have played a definitive role in Boyce’s practice since the 1990s and reflect a shared interest with many of the radical approaches that Lygia Clark pioneered in her work.

Works on display include a series of works exploring Boyce’s fascination with hair as both a material and cultural signifier, as well as the multimedia installation We move in her way (2017). The exhibition also presents visitors with a dedicated section exploring the intersection between the two artists’ practices by pairing a selection of works from each artist.

An Awkward Relation explores the feelings of both involvement and uneasiness intrinsic to an approach that invites visitors to engage, touch and experience artworks and their surroundings in new and unscripted ways. The title of the exhibition is indicative of this complex, often difficult, relationship between artists, works and audiences.  It also recognises that while there are similarities between Boyce and Clark’s work, there are also clear differences which necessarily, and inevitably, stem from the very different artistic, geographical and socio-political contexts in which the artists were working, as well as the specific intentions behind what they were doing.

Opening Hours

Tue-Sun 11am-6pm

Location:

77-82 Whitechapel High Street
London, E1 7QX

Text and pictures, copyright whitechapel gallery and the artist