SOPHIE KO
°1981,Tbilisi (Georgia)
Lives and works in Milan (IT)
Sophie Ko (Tbilisi, 1981) lives and works in Milan. At the heart of her artistic practice lies the concept of time, which is explored in its intense symbolic interaction with the materials she employs – mostly ashes of burnt images and pure pigments – and the images created. The change and instability of materials in relation to the flow of time are some of the constants of her artistic research. The Temporal Geographies, for example, provide an exemplification of a series of works eternally suspended between the act of creation and that of destruction, where the image is constantly subjected to a continuous process of modification through the slow and relentless collapse of the material of which it is made. Conceived through a conceptual and formal negotiation between sculpture and painting, these works stage “a bond made of weight, pressure, gravity, and the destruction of time on images, but also of formation, depth, return, and rebirth with respect to the passage of time.” Meaningful metaphors of the caducity and mutability of existence, her works recall the trajectory of life that we trace, parallel to a slow but persistent collapsing movement.
Recent solo shows include: Italian Cultural Institute, London (2024); Estorick collection of Italian modern art, London (2024); Renata Fabbri, Milan (2015, 2018 and 2023); Contemporary Locus, Bergamo (2023); Postmasters Rome, with Marta Kucsora (2023); Museo Marino Marini, Florence (2022); EAST Galerie, Strasbourg (2022); Galleria de’ Foscherari, Bologna (2016 and 2021–22); BUILDINGBOX, Milan (2021); BUILDING Gallery, Milan (2020); Ca’Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art, Venice (2019); The OpenBox, Milan (2018). She has participated in group exhibitions at Saudi Arabian Museum of Contemporary Art (SAMoCA), Riyadh Saudi Arabia (2024); Premio di Grafica Santa Croce, Santa Croce sull’Arno, Pisa; Studio la Città, Verona; Societé Interludio, Turin; Circolo, Milan; Villa Croce Museo d’arte Contemporanea, Genova (2023); Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio (2022); Fondazione Malvina Menegaz, Castelbasso (2021); Palazzo Barbò Torre Pallavicina, Bologna (2021); MAC – Contemporary Art Museum, Lissone (2021); and Renata Fabbri, Milan (2020), among others. In 2016, Sophie Ko won the Lissone Prize for Painting organized by MAC – Contemporary Art Museum, Lissone.
Forthcoming
- ART ROTTERDAM, duo Marc Angeli & Sophie Ko, 27 - 29 March 2026, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Hilde Vandaele Gallery, Watou - Kortrijk, Belgium
Education
2012 MFA Brera Academy, Milan
2004 BA Academy of Fine Arts, Tbilisi
Awards
2018
19° il Premio Cairo, curated by Redazione di Arte, mensile dell’Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori Cairo-Editore, Palazzo Reale, Milan, 16-21 October, 2018
2017
Finalist by Academy Now, London
2016
First prize winner Gran Premio della Pittura, curated by Alberto Zanchetta, MAC-Contemporary Art Museum, Lissone
2015
Shortlisted Premio Francesco Fabbri per le Arti Contemporanee, Pieve di Soligo
Residences and Special Projects
2023
TAD Residency 2023: Silvia Battaglio, Sophie Ko, Amina Amici. Monastero del Carmine, curated by Contemporary Locus, TTB, FDE Festival Danza Estate. Bergamo (IT)
2022
BARCO – Residenza artistica, curated by Elisa Mossa and Lorenzo Kamerlengo, Urbania (IT)
2018
Giornata di studio. Spazi, sguardi,incontri. Il museo come luogo di inclusione sociale, curated by Analisa Furia and Donatella Biagi Maino, Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di beni culturali, Ravenna (IT)
2017
Residenza Made in Filandia, Pergine Valdarno (IT)
2016
Residenza Progetto Borca – Dolomiti Contemporanee, curated by Gianluca D’Incà Levis
2015
Residenza Carloforte (IT)
2005-2006
Internship Program of the European Commission Giovani per l’Interculturalità at Progetto Giovani, Padua (IT)
2003
Scholarship of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan (IT)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
- Sophie Ko. Manche Freilich müssen drunten sterben / Some must die below, of course, Galerie East featuring Sophie Ko, at EYES ONLY, Munich (DE)
- Sophie Ko- Luca Pozzi, Arte nel paesaggio. Time Gravity 2025, curated by Giada Rodani and Jade Vlietstra, at the San Michele Arcangelo Dome in Semifonte and at the Osservatorio Astronomico Chianti (IT)
- Chiaro di Luna, curated by Michela Eremita, Raggio verde 2025, Accademia dei Fisiocritici, Siena (IT)
- E’ talmente anima, che non è anima, Sophie Ko, text by Maurizio Guerri, EAST Galerie, Strasbourg (FR)
2024
- MEHR LICHT. Sophie Ko/Gianni Pellegrini, curated by Gabriele Salvaterra, SPAZIO KN, Rovereto (IT)
- Sophie Ko: Geografia Temporale, curated by Elena Re, at Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Londra, London (UK)
- INTERVENTION Sophie Ko: Temporal Geography , at Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, London (UK)
2023
- Prima che la notte cada, text by Riccardo Venturi, Renata Fabbri, Milan (IT)
- Ai Vinti, Contemporary Locus 15, curated by Paola Tognon, Parco Caprotti e Padiglione del Tè, Bergamo (IT)
- Sophie Ko/ Marta Kucsora. Questo Caos Del Tempo, curated by Melania Rossi and Paulina Bebecka, PostmastersROMA, Rome (IT)
2022
- Flashbacks-14. Sophie Ko. E quando miro in cielo arder le stelle. curated by Alice Montanini, BUILDINGBOX, Milan (IT)
- Alzarono gli occhi e avvertirono il cielo, EAST Galerie, Strasbourg (FR)
- Il resto della terra, texts by Federico Ferrari and Domenico Brancale, Galleria de’Foscherari, Bologna, 2021/2022 (IT)
2021
- The Shape of Gold. 9/12 Sophie Ko, Metaxu, curated by Melania Rossi, BUILDINGBOX, Milan (IT)
2020
- Atti di resistenza, in Materie, spazi, visioni, text by Andrea Pinotti, BUILDING, Milan (IT)
2018
- Sporgersi nella notte. texts by Marina Dacci and Maurizio Guerri, Renata Fabbri arte contemporanea, Milan (IT)
- Sporgersi nella notte. Atto primo, San Martino, text by Gaspare Luigi Marcone, The Open Box, Milan (IT)
2016
- Terra. Geografie Temporali, curate by Federico Ferrari, Gallera de’Foscherari, Bologna (IT)
2015
Silva Imaginum, curated by Federico Ferrari, Renata Fabbri Arte Contemporanea, Milan (IT)
2014
Sophie Ko. Solo Show, A+B Contemporary Art, Brescia (IT)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
- On the Matter II, from an idea of Matteo Lorenzelli, curated by Ilaria Bignotti and Camilla Remondina, at MO.CA-Centro per le nuove culture, Brescia
- FLORA. L’incanto dei fiori nell’arte italiana dal Novecento a oggi. curated by Daniela Ferrari and e Stefano Roffi in collaboration with Mart Museum. via Fondazione Magnani-Rocca 4, Mamiano di Traversetolo (Parma) (IT)
- On the Matter II, from an idea of Matteo Lorenzelli, curated by Ilaria Bignotti, 2025, Lorenzelli Arte, Milan (IT)
- NATURAE. Ambienti di arte contemporanea, curated by Melania Rossi, Museo storico e il Parco del castello di Miramare, Trieste, Italy, 006.12.2024-09.11.2025
2024
- Uomo a mare is included in By the Means at Hand, Vlatka Horvat‘s project for the Croatian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Venice (IT)
- Peinture sans peindre, EAST Galerie, Strasbourg (FR)
- Interaction, curated by Demetrio Paparoni, at Fondazione Made in Cloister, Naples (IT)
- In The Night, curated by Geraldine Bloch, SAMoCA Museum of Contemporary Art, Ryiadh, Saudi Arabia
2023
- Premio Santa Croce Grafica, curated by Ilaria Mariotti, Villa Pacchiani, Santa Croce sull’Arno (IT)
- Poem Without Word, curated by Stanislao Vialardi at Studio la Città, Verona (IT)
- Desiderio. Atto primo, Societé Interludio, Turin (IT)
- Perché questo è un tempo duro, Curated by Sergio Risaliti, Circolo, Milan (IT)
- Visibilia.Come rendere visibile l’invisibile, curated by Isabella Puliafito, Villa Croce Museo d’arte Contemporanea, Genova (IT)
2022
- BAG. Bocconi Art Gallery, Milan (IT)
- Segni elementari, direzione artistica Francesco Carofilio Alberobello (IT)
Visibilia. Come rendere visibile l’invisibile, curated by Isabella Puliafito, Palazzo ducale, Gubbio (IT)
2021
- Paso doble. Dialoghi sul possibile, curate by Pietro Gagliano, Fondazione Malvina Menegaz , Castelbasso (IT)
- Blocks. Storie di dialoghi oltre i limiti, promoted by RISO-Museo regionale d’arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Palermo, curated by Daniela Brignone and Daniela Brignone, Albergo delle Povere (IT)
- Passages / Paysages curated by Roberto Lacarbonara, Palazzo Barbò Torre Pallavicina (BG)
- Breve storia di una nuova prospettiva in pittura, curated by Alberto Zanchetta, MAC Museo d’arte contemporanea di Lissone (IT)
2020
- We can work it out, Renata Fabbri arte contemporanea (IT)
- Real Utopias, Curated by Bianca Cerrina Feroni and Melania Rossi, Manifesta 13, Marseille,(FR)
- La Gallera de’Foscherari 1962-2018, MAMbo-Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, Project Room, 2019-2020 (IT)
2019
- I Dreamed a Dream, curated by Domenico de Chirico, Marignana Arte, Venice (IT)
- Vesuvio quotidiano Vesuvio universale, curated by Anna Imponente, Certosa e Museo di San Martino, Naples (IT)
- Grand Tour en Italie, curated by Michela Eremita,Palazzo Pratellesi, San Gimignano (IT)
- Looking for Utopia, curated by Bianca Cerrina Feroni and Melania Rossi, Novecento, Venice (IT)
- Powder and Light, curated by Gaspare Luigi Marcone, NM Contemporary, Principauté de Monaco (MC)
- Hortus Conclusus, Fondazione 107, Turin (IT)
- Simply Untitled. Sophie Ko and Florian Roithmayr, Isorropia Homegallery, Milan (IT)
- Loose Ends, curated by Branca Bencic, Renata Fabbri arte contemporanea, Milan (IT)
- Vetrine di Libertà – La Libreria delle donne di Milano, ieri, oggi, curated by Francesca Pasini, Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan (IT)
2018
- Grand Tour en Italie, Porto turistico Antisante Villa Igiena, curated by Michela Eremita, Manifesta, Palermo (IT)
- IXION, La collezione, la sua evoluzione e la ricerca culturale al servizio della città. MAC Museo d’arte contemporanea di Lissone (IT)
- Immagini ombre idee, curated by Gaspare Luigi Marcone, The Open Box, Milan (IT)
- “…et refaire le monde” Bea Bonafini, Sépàd Danesh, Sophie Ko, Octave Marsal, La Galerie Bessières, Chatou (FR)
- Men at Work/Women Work Better, Bibo’s Place, Rome (IT)
- Kahuna, curate by Leonardo Regano, promoted by Polo Museale dell’Emilia Romagna, Ex chiesa di San Mattia (IT)
2017
- Madeinfilandia 2017, curated by Residenza Madeinfilandia, Pieve a Presciano (IT)
- Storie e opere, Fondazione Malvina Menegaz per le Arti, Castelbasso (IT)
- Fuocoapaesaggio, curated by Gianluca d’Inca Levis and Giovanna Repetto, Forte di Monte Ricco, Pieve di Cadore (IT)
- The Hidden Dimension. Chapter II, curated by Ilaria Bignotti, Galleria Marignanaarte, Venice (IT)
- Rosso Freddo, curated by Festival Studi III, Milan (IT)
2016
- Fracturae, curated by Giorgia Galdaston, Palazzo Altan, San Vito al Tagliamento (IT)
- Fine del possibile. Tra l’esausto e l’esaustivo, group show and convention, Frittelli Arte Contemporanea and Gruppo Quinto Alto, Florence (IT)
- Beyond Landscape, curated by Andrea Lerda, Renata Fabbri Arte Contemporanea, Milan (IT)
- Xenia – Volume II, Sophie Ko & Alessandro Roma, curated by Alberta Romano, Casa Bertoli-Borsani, Milan (IT)
2015
- Les Sublimes, curated by Fondazione Arthur Cravan and Cose Cosmiche, Milan (IT)
- Vetrina, curated by Soap and Festival Studi, Milan (IT)
2013
- Castello 40. A case study, curated by Fortunato D’Amico, Venicedocks, Venice (IT)
2012
- Canvases, promoted by Accademia di Brera, Nuovo-CIB Galleria Formentini, Milan (IT)
2012
- Schlaglichter, curated by Paola Alborghetti, Ateliergemeinschaft Geh8, Dresden (DE)
2008
- Maestros Y Discipulos, promoted by Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Museo Municipal De Bellas Artes G. Perez di Cordoba, Argentina (AR)
2007
QUI OBIJT ANNO MMVII, curated by Umberto Cavenago, S. Carpoforo, Milan (IT)
2003
Transmission, promoted by Association Art Without Frontiers, curated by Nino Danelia, Gallery Priestor for Contemporary Art, Bratislava (BA)
