Contact: rioxofia@gmail.com
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b. Querétaro, México
lives and works in New York City
Río Sofia is a visual artist, arts worker, and organizer. Her recent body of artwork explores forced feminization porn, a genre that fantasizes about experiencing gender transformation through coercion and loss of control. This project was spotlighted in Out Magazine's April and August 2019 print issues, and led her to present her work at institutions such as The New Museum, Princeton University, and Rutgers University. With her focus rooted at the intersection of art and trans liberation, Rio began organizing as an undergraduate student at Cooper Union, where she executed several art and academic events, notably working alongside curators Stamatina Gregory and Jeanne Vaccaro on "Bring Your Own Body: Transgender Between Archives and Aesthetics". Additionally, she and a group of student activists organized a multi-year effort to successfully de-gender all bathrooms on campus, transforming Cooper Union into the first university in the country entirely without gendered bathroom signage. In 2018, Rio co-founded Body Hack, a happy hour for trans and nonbinary people in Brooklyn that, since migrating to the web during the COVID-19 pandemic, has served as a virtual party and fundraising platform for trans communities internationally. In June 2020, Rio joined a small team of volunteers to organize a viral fundraising campaign with GLITS, an organization founded by trans and sex worker advocate Ceyenne Doroshow, that brought together hundreds of volunteers and over 25,000 donations in under a week—raising a total of over $1M. She is currently a Co-Director at Queer|Art, a New York City based organization serving LGBTQ+ artists across generations and disciplines.
Education/Residencies
2025
Bard College (MFA, Paintng)
Annandale-On-Hudson, NY
2021
EFA Project Space’s SHIFT Residency For Arts Workers
New York, NY
2017
Cooper Union For The Advancement of Science & Art (BFA, Studio Art)
New York, NY
2013
SOMA Summer Residency
Ciudad De México, México
Solo Exhibitions
2017
Forced Womanhood!
Cooper Union, New York NY
Group Exhibitions
2024
Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects: A Variety Show Extravaganza
New Museum, New York NY
2021
We turn (EFA Project Space’s SHIFT Residency For Arts Workers)
EFA Project Space, New York NY
The Kill One Race (reality competition game-play created by Raja Feather Kelly)
Playwrights Horizons, New York NY
2019
Wildfire: work exploring queer temporality, futurity and the archive
U.N.O. Gallery, New Orleans LA
2018
Stonewall is Not Here Yet (performance event for MOTHA and Chris E. Vargas: Consciousness Razing—The Stonewall Re-Memorialization Project)
New Museum, New York NY
EOYS Showcase
Cooper Union, New York NY
2015
EOYS Performance Showcase
Cooper Union, New York NY
Open Toe Peepshow #23
Heels on Wheels Roadshow
Branded Saloon, New York NY
2014
The Dream Vault Cycle
La MaMa E.T.C, New York NY
At Least You Tried: A Mother’s Day Event
Heels on Wheels Roadshow
Judson Memorial Church, New York NY
Panic Show Room
Cooper Union, New York NY
2013
¡Que Lastima!
Godine Gallery, Boston MA
I Walk In Dread (with NonGrata)
Anthony Greaney Gallery, Boston MA
Muestra Marrana 5
Hangar, Barcelona, Spain
2012
Smash Hits
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA
Fountain Art Fair
The Armory, New York NY
Caution
Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast, Ireland
Lapsody: International Exchange
Studio 1 at the Theatre Academy, Helsinki, Finland
2011
Strength In Numbers
The Catch Gallery, Miami FL
2010
305 ‘Til I Die
The Catch Gallery, Miami FL
Curatorial Experience
2021
Queer|Art Community Portrait Project (co-curator, images by Felicita “Felli” Maynard)
Online
2020
Queer|Art|Pride Book & Print Fair Digital Marketplace (curator)
Online
2019
Queer|Art Community Portrait Project (curator, images by Lola Flash)
LGBT Center, New York NY
Queer|Art|Pride Book & Print Fair (curator)
Abrons Arts Center, New York NY
Em Casa: Brazilian Cutlery (curator, solo exhibition by Marco DaSilva)
Abrons Arts Center, New York NY
Food For Thought : After Mentorship (co-curator)
Danspace Project, New York NY
2016
SUBMERGING: A Multimedia Art Exhibition Benefitting F2L (co-curator)
41 Cooper Gallery, New York NY
Bring Your Own Body: Transgender Between Archive and Aesthetics (assistant curator)
41 Cooper Gallery, New York NY
2015
VERGING: A Multimedia Art Exhibition Benefitting The Audre Lorde Project (curator)
41 Cooper Gallery, New York NY
2014
Emotional Edging (curator)
Bruce High Quality Foundation University, New York NY
2013
Histories of Now: Student Power (co-curator)
Grossman Gallery, Boston 2013
Organizing Experience
2021
Body Hack (2018–present)
Online, formerly at Mood Ring, New York NY
Queer|Art|Film (2018–present)
IFC Center, New York NY
ARCANUM, Queer|Art|Mentorship Annual (curated by Anthonywash.Rosado)
Online (partnerships with Abrons Arts Center and Vanderbilt Republic in New York City)
2020
$1M Fundraiser for GLITS Inc (founded by Ceyenne Doroshow)
Online
How do we know what we need you to know: Intimate access and collective care, Queer|Art|Mentorship Annual (curated by Jeanne Vaccaro)
Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, New York NY
2018
No Borders Gift Fund
New York NY
Here & Not Yet, Queer|Art|Mentorship Annual
LGBT Center, New York NY
Queer Colors of the Future
Macy’s Herald Square, New York NY
2016
Consent: HIV Disclosure and Sexual Assault
Cooper Union, New York NY
Black Radical Imagination Conference
Cooper Union, New York NY
Organizing at the Intersections of Black Lives Matter and Gender Justice with Joshua Allen
Cooper Union, New York NY
2015
An Evening With M. Lamar
Cooper Union, New York NY
Darkmatter: It Gets Bitter Tour
Cooper Union, New York NY
Stories of Sexual & Reproductive Justice & Activism
Cooper Union, New York NY
2014
Black Radical Imagination
Cooper Union, New York NY
Public Speaking/Facilitation Experience
2020
t4t: A Trans Studies Symposium (organized by RL Goldberg and Christina Leon at Princeton University’s Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies)
Princeton University, Princeton NJ
Transgender Studies: Trans Creativity, Activism, and Mutual Aid (presented with Body Hack co-organizers for Leora Fuller’s undergraduate course)
Rutgers University, Newark NJ
Forced Womanhood! Artist Talk (guest presenter for McKenzie Wark’s Trans Aesthetics undergraduate course)
The New School, New York NY
Forced Womanhood! Artist Talk (organized by Brooke Holmes and RL Goldberg at Princeton University’s Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in the Humanities)
Princeton University, Princeton NJ
Transgender Studies: Trans Creativity, Activism, and Mutual Aid (guest presenter for Leora Fuller’s undergraduate course)
Rutgers University, Newark NJ
Night Work: A Panel on Fun (organized by K. K. Trieu)
The New School for Social Research, New York NY
2019
Representation and the Femme Body: Sex Work and Pornography (co-organized by Zackary Drucker and Joseph Maida)
SVA Theatre, New York NY
Forced Womanhood! Artist Talk (guest presenter for McKenzie Wark’s Trans Media undergraduate course)
The New School, New York NY
WorldPride Rally: Stonewall 50 Commemoration (with Laura McQuade, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood NYC)
Christopher Street and Waverly Place, New York NY
In Conversation: On Top of All This (organized by Ted Kerr and Diya Vij)
High Line, New York NY
Writing / Journalism Experience
2021
”Friends Who Protect One Another”, The New York Times Style Magazine, April Print Issue
2018
“Centering Trans Women In Our Fight For Health Equity”, Gay City News, June print issue
Publications and Press
2020
“This online party and fundraiser garners aid for trans sex workers in NYC and Latin America”, Univision, online publication
“How I Made It: Partying All Day With 'Body Hack'“, Latino USA, NPR, podcast
”Trans Women’s Underwear Doesn’t Exist”, VICE, online publication
2019
“Who’s Afraid of a Naked Trans Woman?”, Out Magazine, August print issue
”Making Work in Her Own Image”, Out Magazine, May print issue
2018
“How An Estrogen Shortage Is Making Life Hell For Trans Femmes”, Them., online publication
2017
“Models of Futurity”, Trap Door: Trans Cultural Production and the Politics of Visibility, The MIT Press, print anthology
“Cameos”, Mask Magazine, online publication
2016
“A slave to love?: Mystery of the ‘bride’ and a woman in a pink devil bondage suit spotted clambering the rooftop of prestigious New York City art school”, Daily Mail, online publication
“New York College Moves To Strip Gender Markings From All Bathrooms”, The Guardian, online publication
“New York City College Cooper Union Will Begin To Remove Gender Signs From Its Restrooms”, Mic, online publication
“Cooper Union Removes Gender Designations from Restrooms”, USA Today, online publication
“Transgender Rights: The Fight For Gender Neutral Toilets”, The Week, online publication
2013
“¡Que Lastima!”, Big Red and Shiny, online publication
2011
”Life Drawing Class”, BUTT Magazine, online publication
Awards
2019
Simply Red Award For Iconic Trans Leadership and Artistry, GLITS Inc
2018
The Medici Prize For Excellence in Art, School of Art Faculty at Cooper Union
Service To The School Award, Student Affairs at Cooper Union
2013
Recipient of Full Tuition Scholarship, Cooper Union