Sonia Boyce: Speaking in Tongues

Art. Art Criticism. This monograph traces Sonia Boyce's trajectory from early graphic work to her recent mixed-media pieces which draw on elements of British popular culture and cinema to address society's positioning of individuals in terms of race, class and gender. Unquestionably serious and with an unquestionable sense of humor, Boyce's work, ranging from photography to painting and installations, is here widely represented, and well-complemented by three intelligent essays by Gilane Tawadros, a biography of the artist, and, alongside the essays, excellently chosen excerpts from Boyce's working diaries. Tawadros' essays address cultural, racial, gender and visual/art historical issues raised over the trajectory of Boyce's artistic development, using such theorists as Homi Bhabha, Frantz Fanon, Italo Calvino, and Stuart Hall to contextualize the artist's magnificent and provocative work.