sophia cleary

“A gifted young artist able to risk and deliver.”
—Jennifer Krasinski, ARTFORUM

“Has a powerful hold on stage and she knows it.”
—Louise Jones, ThisWeek

“An unlikely sergeant …[who] distributes love around a room through improvisation and expedited intimacy.”
—Jess Barbagallo, MRPJ

Selected Performances 

• Read The Room, 2024, at The Roy and Edna Disney CalARTS Theater (REDCAT), as a part of NOWFest 2024, LA, CA

• Acting Director, 2024, at Human Resources Gallery, LA, CA

• Isn’t Live Performance So Amazing?, 2023, at David Horvitz’s 7th Ave Garden, LA, CA 

• It Gets Worse, Assembly Fest, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, August 2-26 2023, Edinburgh, Scotland & 2021-2022 at Joe’s Pub, NYC

• One & Only, 2021, written and performed by Sophia Cleary and directed by Sara Lyons at The Kitchen, NYC

• Spread Eagle Too Thin, at The Duplex, 2019, NYC and Lyric Hyperion Theater, LA, CA 

• Miracle, co-created with Neal Medlyn, 2017, at The Chocolate Factory, NYC 

• It is from here that the world unfolds, 2017, Real Time and Space, Oakland, CA 

• Female Figure II, 2017 at e-flux, NYC 

• Childless, 2016, at New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA Fair), NYC 

• Penis, 2016, opener for The Julie Ruin, at The Roxy, LA, CA and in 2015 at Artists Space as a part of No Total Weekend
  & at The Kitchen as a part of Synth Nights, NYC

• Emerging Artist, 2015 at the Performing Garage, NYC 

• urn is the image, 2013 & 2014 at Human Resources Gallery, Los Angeles, CA and Danspace Project, NYC

Residencies 

• SOMA Summer Institute Mexico City, Mexico

• Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, NY 

• Real Time and Space, Oakland, CA 

• The Performing Garage Presents, New York, NY 

• The Shandaken Project, Shandaken, NY 

Training 

• Idiot Workshop with John Gilkey and Amrita Dhaliwal, Los Angeles, CA 

• Mime Theatre Studio with Lorin Eric Salm, Los Angeles, CA 

• The Acting Studio with James Price, Meisner Intensive, NYC 

• Upright Citizens Brigade, Improv 101-401, Los Angeles, CA 

• Physical Comedy Through Mime, Goldmime Studio with Gregg Goldston, New York, NY 

Press 

• “One & Only” by Jess Barbagallo, Movement Research Performance Journal, Summer 2022. 

• “Sophia Cleary’s “One & Only” at The Kitchen” by Noa Weiss, Culturebot, January 2022.

• "Punk Band Penis May Be Small, But They Have Some Huge Fans" by Nicole Disser, Bedford + Bowery, December 2015. 

• “9 Truly Avant-Garde Musicians You Should Add To Your Playlist Right Now” by Priscilla Frank, Huffington Post, September 2015. 

• “Pass It On” by Jennifer Krasinski, Artforum, June 2015. 

• “Sophia Cleary’s REHEARSAL” by Samara Davis, Movement Research Performance Journal, Spring 2013. 

Education 

• MFA Candidate, Visual Arts, University of California San Diego 

• Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Madison, ME 

• MA NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New York, NY 

• BA Marlboro College, Marlboro, VT 

• Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL 

Other Projects 

• Founder and Coordinator of REHEARSAL, a performance works-in-progress series in residence at Junior High LA and Public Displays of Altadena. Previously in residence at the Invisible Dog Art Center, Knockdown Center, and Cage. 2011-Present. 

• Board Member of Women and Performance, a feminist journal published by NYU press. 2014-present. 

• Programming Committee Member, Human Resources Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2015-2022. 

• Co-Editor of Emergency INDEX, published through Ugly Duckling Presse. 2011-2018.