(b. 1992, West Midlands, UK)
Artist based between New York City, USA and London, UK
She/Her
Sophie Cunningham’s practice explores the addictive cycles of online consumption marketed towards women. Through absurd, performative gestures in sculpture and photography, documented through film, she draws on the visual language of online shopping and YouTube unboxings. Using products and packaging as both material and subject, she works within the timeframe between an online order and its return. Cunningham inserts art as an anomaly into existing supply chains and awaits a brand’s response. These gestures disrupt familiar rituals of buying and returning, attempting to reveal the seduction, absurdity and emptiness of consumer culture.
Download: Systems at the Seams Exhibition Text, The Stone Space Gallery, London, UK, 2023
Upcoming
Workshop: The Kitchen as Studio: Reimagining Food Through Photography in collaboration with The Food Art Fair, Online on 7 September 6:00pm (BTS)
Screening: Consumed at The Food Art Fair, Ladbroke Hall, London, 5 September 9:00pm
Education
Goldsmiths, University of London MFA Fine Art, 2019 - 2022
Glasgow School Of Art, BA Fine Art Photography, 2011 – 2015
Academic Appointments
Part-time Faculty, Parsons School of Design, New York City, USA, July 2026 - Present
Adjunct Assistant Professor, College of Staten Island, CUNY, New York City, USA, April 2026 - Present
Lecturer at South Essex College, UAL BA (Hons) Photography, January 2024 - September 2025
Associate Lecturer at UAL, Central St Martins, Foundation Diploma, September 2021 - October 2023
Visiting Tutor at Birmingham City University, BA (Hons) Photography, September 2021 - June 2023
Awards
2023 — Gilbert Bayes Award — Royal Society of Sculptors
2023 — East London Art Prize Shortlist — Bow Arts
2015 — John Kinross Scholarship — Royal Scottish Academy
Solo Exhibitions
2023 – Systems at The Seams, The Stone Space Gallery, London, UK
2020 – Empty Basket, AirSpace Gallery, 4 Broad Street, Stoke-on-Trent, UK
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026 – Every Woman Biennial: SPECTALiA, Pen + Brush Gallery, New York City, USA
2025 – I CHANGED MY MIND, BowArts Camden Lounge, London, UK
2025 – Disobedient Objects, Electric Studios, Hastings, UK
2024 – The Art of Living, Hypha Studios, 8 Dover Street, London, UK
2024 – Take a Seat, Bow Arts, 125 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, UK
2024 – Gilbert Bayes Award Show, The Art House, Wakefield, UK
2024 – Gilbert Bayes Award Show, Dora House, London, UK
2023 – Designed for Life, London College of Fashion, London, UK
2023 – Baggage Claim, Staffordshire Street Gallery, London, UK
2023 – Bottleneck, Hartslane Gallery, London, UK
2023 – East London Art Prize Exhibition, Nunnery Gallery, London, UK
2021 – Tilt, Collaborative Show with Ali Glover, 310 NXRD, London, UK
2021 – Social Fabric, 100 Shandy Street, London, UK
2021 – ACCESS, Deptford X, London, UK
2020 – Ways & Means, Skelf virtual project space (online), skelf.org.uk
2018 – INTER(TWINE), Supernormal Gallery, Singapore
2015 – Beyond The Camera, Pingyao International Photography Festival, China
Film Screenings
Mementos for the Supply Chain at MicroActs: 13 Film screening at The Elephant Hotel, London, December 2022
Commissions & Public Art
Collaboration with London College of Fashion x East London Art Prize:
Durational sculptural performance 'Tin Foil Ghost' for exhibition Designed for Life, 22 November – 20 December 2023
Collaboration with charity Migrant Help:
Temporary large-scale public sculpture for refugee awareness week at Southbank, London, 20-22nd June 2023
Artist Residencies
Hospitalfield, Interdisciplinary Residency, Arbroath, Scotland, May 2018
Take a Seat Artist Residency, ha.lf X Bow Arts, London, August - October 2024
Artist Talks
2026 — Parsons School of Design Artist Talk for Theorizing Luxury class, New York, USA
2023 — Whitechapel Gallery Conversation with Dr. Francesco Mazzarella for Life is More Important than Art, London, UK
2023 — Central Saint Martins, UAL Artist Talk for MA Fashion Histories & Theories, London, UK
2021 — Victoria and Albert Museum Speaker for series Live Conversations: Designed To Make a Difference, London, UK
Workshops
2026 — Conceptual Art Activism: Photography and Moving Image Workshop Series for City University of New York, New York City, USA
2025 — Manufacturing Desire: Photography Workshop in collaboration with Sophie Percival, BowArts Camden Lounge, London, UK, June 2025
Selected Press & Publications
BBC News, World Refugee Day: Backpack Artwork Unveiled, 2023
Autre Magazine, Hyperstitious Garments: A Treatise on Sartorial Immortality, 2022
Floorr Magazine, Issue 27, Interview by Simek Shropshire, 2021