Sophie Rowley, a German and New Zealand artist with a MA from Central Saint Martins London, lives and works in Berlin. With a background in textiles her work embraces the experimentation with techniques in fibre. Central to her approach are methods of deconstruction, wherein she challenges the inherent structural norms and tangible aspects of canvas, redefining its role as a mere substrate to the very essence of the artwork itself. Her self-developed techniques entail a meticulous repetition, unfolding across days, weeks, and months, and resulting in intricate, corporeal paintings.
She disrupts conventional perceptions surrounding the predetermined gender associations attributed to mediums and materials. Embracing a feminist ethos, she celebrates the utilisation of traditionally female mediums that are historically rooted in domesticity. Her practice questions entrenched biases, inviting a reevaluation of societal constructs that dictate artistic expression along gendered lines.
Rowley’s work has been exhibited internationally, including at Make Hauser & Wirth Somerset; the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) in Arizona, USA; Looiersgracht 60 in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Roche Court’s New Art Centre in Salisbury, UK; Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, UK; the Design Museum Gent in Belgium; and the Isamu Noguchi Stone Heaven in Tokyo, Japan. In 2019, she was a finalist in the LOEWE Foundation’s Craft Prize, an internationally distinguished award for contemporary makers.
Rowley’s works are represented in the collections of the V&A, London; the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA); the Design Museum Gent; and the Georgetown University Art Galleries.
Next on her itinerary is an artist residency at Thread in Sinthian/Senegal with the Josef and Annie Albers Foundation in January 2025.
Contact
info@sophierowley.com
+49 (0)176 56830177
Exhibitions (selection):
Funchal Art and Design Biennale, Funchal, Portugal
Group show, Funchal Cultural and Research Center, curated by Susana Gonzaga /March - June 2025
Looiersgracht 60, ‘Repetition is a form of change’ , Amsterdam, NL
Solo Show, Curated by Soraya Notoadikusumo and Nadine Snijders / Sept 2024 - Oct. 2024
https://www.looiersgracht60.org/calendar/event/repitition-is-a-form-of-change
MAKE Hauser & Wirth, ‘Wilder Than Wildness Itsself’ , Somerset and London, UK
Group Show, Curated by Jacqueline Moore / Nov 2021. - Jan. 2022
www.hauserwirth.com/make/35270-wilder-than-wildness-itself
‘Beyond Nature’ Group Show, Curated by Jacqueline Moore and shown at Hauser & Wirth London, May-.June 2022
Roche Court, New Art Centre, ‘Common Thread’ , Salisbury, UK
Croup Show, Curated by Lewis Dalton / May - Sept. 2020
www.sculpture.uk.com/common-thread
Design Museum Gent, ‘Van Eyck’s colors in design’ , Gent, Belgium
Group Show, Curaters: Siegrid Demyttenaere & Sofie Lachaert / May - Sept. 2020
www.designmuseumgent.be/agenda/kleureyck
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) , ‘Design Transfigured / Waste reimagined’, Scottsdale, USA
Group show curated by Curatorsquared (Judy Fox and Ginger Duggan), Feb. - Sept. 2020
https://smoca.org/exhibition/design-transfigured-waste-reimagined/
Georgetown University Art Gallery , ‘Design Transfigured / Waste reimagined’, Washington DC, USA
Group show curated by Curatorsquared (Judy Fox and Ginger Duggan), Oct. - Dec. 2019
https://smoca.org/exhibition/design-transfigured-waste-reimagined/
Kettle’s Yard, ‘Re-Make’ , Cambridge, UK
Group Show, Curated by Sarah Banbery / Oct. -Nov. 2019
www.kettlesyard.co.uk/events/re-new/
Isamu Nugochi Stone Heaven, ‘Loewe Craft Prize’ , Tokyo, Japan
Group Show, Organised by the Loewe Foundation / June-July 2019
Design Museum Gent, ‘Poeme Brut’ , Gent, Belgium
Group Show, Curaters: Siegrid Demyttenaere & Sofie Lachaert / April - July 2018
SIDE Gallery, Summer Show 2022, Casavells, Spain / April - Oct. 2022
SIDE Gallery, Summer Show 2022, Casavells, Spain / April - Oct. 2020
SIDE Gallery, Summer Show 2019, Casavells, Spain / April - Oct. 2019
Art fairs: Salon Art and Design NY, USA / Nov. 2019, Design Miami Dec. 2019, Collectible Brussels 2020
Collections:
Collection of the Design Museum Gent Gent/ Belgium
Collection of the Israel Museum Jerusalem/ Israel
Georgetown University Art Galleries Washington, DC / USA
V&A Museum of Childhood London /UK
Teaching and Lecturing:
HTW Berlin, Experimental Textiles Teaching assignment, Berlin / 2018 - 2023
Glasgow School of Art Visiting Speaker /January 2022
TU Munich, Architecture & Waste Program External speaker, Munich / April 2021
Bauhaus University, Textiles Department Speaker and workshop leader, Weimar / January 2020
Bratislava Design Week, Slovak Design Centre Visiting speaker, Bratislava / July 2019
Thomas Heatherwick Architects External speaker, London / Oct. 2015
Education:
MA ‘Material Futures’ Central Saint Martins London, UK / 2012-2014
BA ‘Textiles’ HTW Berlin, Germany / 2007-2011
Awards and achievements/residencies:
THREAD residency, Josef and Annie Albers foundation Sinthian, Senegal / February 2026
Carraig-na gCat, Josef and Annie Albers foundation, Glandore, Ireland / January 2025
Public research Residency, Looiersgracht 60 Amsterdam, NL / August 2024
A-Z Residency, Andrea Zittel Joshua Tree, USA / October 2023
LOEWE Craft Prize Tokyo, Japan / June-July 2019
IFA (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) Funding for research project Jaipur, India / Sept. 2019
Best New Surface Award (winner) London, UK / Oct. 2015
Afri Cola Design Award Berlin, Germany / May 2011
Createurope Award, Goethe Institute Berlin, Germany / Oct. 2009