The Greene Space presents selected works by New York City based artist Sophia Wallace at the corner of Charlton Street and Varick Street in Soho now through June 27, 2023. The exhibition includes ceramic and neon sculptures, inflatables, and a site-specific installation, all centering the clitoris. Find out more about Sophia and her work here.
You can learn about The Greene Space here. Check out our upcoming events here, and find out how to collaborate with us through our artist residency program here.
Artist Statement
As conservative politicians wield the law to deny gender complexity and to pathologize acts of intimacy that are not solely for reproduction, it is urgent that civil society critically consider the politics of pleasure. Culturally, the penis is venerated with phallic obelisks that decorate national lawns and cemeteries. Though the clitoris is equally pervasive in nature, the clitoridian is unknown. From art, to advertising, to architecture, there are very few clits to be found. And yet, the clitoridan is a primary symbol. It speaks to pleasure for the sake of itself, that serves no greater utility than joy. In contrast to the singular, hierarchical phallic, the clitoridian gives voice to unseen power, strength created through the unity of many.
I’m honored to present the artworks in this show at The Greene Space, where robust discourse and creative expression exist in harmony. My hope is that this profoundly rare spectacle offers viewers a chance to unburden themselves of the weight of genital self-hatred, offering aesthetic reverence in place of erasure.”
Work on view in our lobby
Shrine
Άδάμας (Unconquerable), 2013
wood, fiberglass, steel and enamel
36 x 46 x 11 in.
The Secret of Possessing Joy, (North Star), 2021
16 x 4 x 16 in.
Work on view in our entrance hallway
A Beacon, II, 2021
16 x 4 x 16 in
A Lighthouse, I, II 2021
16 x 4 x 16 in
The Secret of Possessing Joy, (Spectrum), 2021
16 x 4 x 16 in.
Work on view in our windows facing Charlton Street and Varick Street
Untitled (Erecting Clitoridian Architectures) 2022
8.3 x 5.9 x 6.25 feet
PVC, enamel
Artist Bio
Sophia Wallace (1978, New York City, USA) is a conceptual artist working at the intersection of bodies and ethics. She holds a BA in Government from Smith College and an MA in Studio Art from New York University & The International Center of Photography. Wallace is best known for establishing an iconography of the clitoridian. For eleven years, Wallace has sculpted, sketched, pasted, inflated and spoken this subject into indelible presence. Artwork-by-artwork, she counters a suspicious absence in art history.
Her work is shown widely in the US and internationally including Spain, Austria, Mexico, Italy, Nigeria, Australia and the UK. Exhibitions of Wallace’s art have been held at Sotheby’s, Samek Art Museum, Leslie-Lohman Museum, Aperture Gallery, Taschen Gallery, Blueproject Foundation, and Newspace Center of Photography, among others.
Critical recognition of Wallace’s work on gendered body knowledge includes The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, PBS, ARTE, The Guardian, Art in America, Teen Vogue, New Yorker, Time, VICE, and Huffington Post among others. Her TED featured talk, A Case For Cliteracy has been viewed over 2 million times while her interactive collaboration with Huffington Post, The Overdue, Under-told Story of the Clitoris, received 3.5 million views and was translated into 3 languages. Wallace has been honored with the Griffin Museum’s Critic’s Pick Award, and PDN’s Curator Award. She was a 2012 recipient of the Van Lier Fellowship, and a 2019 “Artist On Our Radar” with Creative Capital. She was a 2019 Artist in Residence at the Project For Empty Space Feminist Incubator and an Artist in Residence at Vermont Studio Center. She is a 2020 inaugural grantee of the Crave Foundation. Most recently, Wallace can be seen on BBC/Hulu’s Planet Sex with Cara Delevigne and in The Dilemma of Desire by Maria Finitzo, available on most streaming platforms.
