Sophia Giovannitti's 'Crisis of Faith' exhibition explores exploitation, sex work, and country music at Blade Study

Key facts

• Sophia Giovannitti's exhibition 'You know I got it So come and get it' is at Blade Study in New York from 6 June to 7 July 2024.
• The exhibition features 'Crisis of Faith' (2022–2024), which includes the live lecture 'Does it have a sincere relationship to God?' performed on Thursday and Friday nights.
• Giovannitti's crisis of faith began after exploitation at a tech company where her boss extorted her following escort work.
• She published the memoir 'Working Girl: On Selling Art and Selling Sex' in 2023 about her experiences with sex work in New York.
• The installation 'Toby Tony Toni Me and God' (2024) includes terrariums with metamorphosing caterpillars and a three-channel video with content from Toby Keith, 'The Sopranos', and a documentary on Antonio Negri.
• Giovannitti identifies with Toby Keith's song 'Should Have Been a Cowboy' and claims a sincere relationship to his music and rural American culture.
• The exhibition attempts to reframe American rightwing cultural fixtures like country music as radically progressive.
• Lecture audiences are limited to 12 people, and during performances, Giovannitti changes into baggy clothes from the gallery wall to demonstrate her shift in self-presentation post-memoir.