Moody Jones Gallery is proud to present Public Record, a solo exhibition featuring Sophia Victor, on view from February 6 through March 14. An opening reception will take place on Thursday, February 13, from 5:30 to 8:00 PM.
Public Record presents a focused selection of works by Sophia Victor, tracing her artistic journey through personal history, collective memory, and social consciousness. On view during Black History Month, the exhibition situates Victor’s work within ongoing conversations around Black resistance, care, and the preservation of lived experience.
Members of MOVE, the Philadelphia-based Black liberation organization, including Janine Africa, Ramona Africa, Janet Africa, Eddie Africa, and Carlos Africa – will be in attendance at the opening reception. Their presence speaks to the importance of creating space to acknowledge and engage with our history.
The exhibition includes paintings created for and inspired by incarcerated individuals, including works referencing the Black Panther movement and the Exonerated Five, alongside deeply personal portraits of family members and intimate community figures. These earlier works establish the foundation of Victor’s practice—art as advocacy, care, and testimony.
Victor’s more recent works confront themes of justice, social freedom, systemic injustice, and police brutality, reflecting an artist whose visual language continues to evolve while remaining anchored in truth-telling and accountability. Together, the works form a visual timeline—one that moves between the personal and the political, the intimate and the communal.
This exhibition positions Victor’s practice as both reflective and urgent, offering audiences an opportunity to witness an artist whose work remains deeply rooted in humanity, service, and the pursuit of justice.
Moody Jones Gallery is dedicated to highlighting artists whose work engages culture, history, and social consciousness through intentional curation and collective understanding.
Artist Biography
Sophia Victor (b. 1988, Brooklyn, NY) is a multidisciplinary artist and muralist. A first-generation American raised by Jamaican parents, Victor’s practice integrates ministry, activism, facilitation, and art therapy, with service to people forming a central pillar of her creative work. Through narratives of living history, her portraiture foregrounds the human dimensions of social injustice, shaped by personal connection and direct communication with the subjects of her work.
Victor’s interdisciplinary practice synthesizes painting, public art, installation, interventions, video, and performance—including roller disco skating—as tools for engagement and embodied storytelling. Her layered, richly colored compositions honor the beauty, struggle, and perseverance of diverse Black experiences, situating personal narratives within broader cultural and political contexts.
Victor was included in the Jamaica National Gallery Biennial (2015) and the Bronx Museum for the Arts Biennial (2017). She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts (2010) and her MA in Visual Arts Administration from New York University (2013). She is a recent graduate of the MPS Art Therapy program at the School of Visual Arts.
Since 2018, Victor has worked with incarcerated populations at Rikers Island in multiple capacities, including teaching artist, volunteer, and art therapist. Her work has been featured in The Guardian, BBC News, Forbes Magazine, New York 1, and Colorlines. She is an alumna of the Whitney Independent Study Program and the Bronx Museum for the Arts Residency Program. Her artwork has appeared in film and television, including She’s Gotta Have It and Bel-Air. In 2020, Victor joined the faculty of the Fine Arts Department at the School of Visual Arts.
Artist Statement
My work exists at the intersection of lived experience, memory, and social truth. I create from a
place of service—using art as a tool for witness, healing, and confrontation. Whether working
with incarcerated individuals, families, or communities navigating systemic harm, my practice
centers humanity as the starting point.
Portraiture is a primary language in my work. I am interested in how the face carries history—both personal and collective. Through layered compositions, color, and texture, I explore how beauty and struggle coexist, particularly within Black life. These works are not meant to document pain alone, but to affirm presence, dignity, and resilience.
My practice extends beyond the canvas. Public art, performance, facilitation, and art therapy allow me to engage bodies, movement, and shared space. Roller disco skating, for example, becomes a form of embodied storytelling—joy as resistance, movement as memory. Ultimately, my work asks viewers to slow down and see people fully. It invites reflection on justice, freedom, and responsibility, while honoring the lives and stories that shape our present moment.
Selected Exhibitions:
● Jamaica National Gallery Biennial, 2015
● Bronx Museum for the Arts Biennial, 2017
Residencies
● Whitney Independent Study Program, 2018
● Bronx Museum for the Arts Residency Program, 2019
Education
● MPS, Art Therapy — School of Visual Arts
● MA, Visual Arts Administration — New York University
● BFA — School of Visual Arts
Professional Experience
● Teaching Artist, Art Therapist, and Volunteer — Rikers Island (since 2018)
● Faculty Member, Fine Arts Department — School of Visual Arts (since 2020)
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