Troy Gronsdahl is an artist and cultural worker from Saskatoon. Gronsdahl has a BFA from the University of Saskatchewan and holds an MFA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design where he was the recipient of the Governor General’s Academic Medal. Gronsdahl has received a number of awards in the field of visual arts and music including grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and Saskatchewan Arts Board. He was the recipient of the 2021 Saskatchewan Music Award for Hip Hop Artist of the Year and received the Saskatchewan Arts Leadership Award in 2022.
Working across diverse media including text, photography, video, and performance, Gronsdahl executes his projects with an eloquent use of material and a poetic restraint. His work draws attention to the ways we seek meaning and the slippery nature of truth, exploring the limits of language and the unreliability of interpretation, and the inherent absurdity of this condition. His artwork has been presented at screenings and exhibitions across Canada and is held in the collection of the Sask Arts, the National Gallery’s collection of artist books, among other private collections.
In addition to his visual art practice, Gronsdahl is an award-winning musician, creating genre-bending hip hop music under the moniker soso. Best known for songs that explore family and social histories, personal experience and place, he operates at the edges of the hip hop genre, developing a distinctive and personal body of work that helped define the prairie hip hop aesthetic. His work has been reviewed widely online and in print media, described variously as “haunting,” “captivating,” and “eloquent,” as well as “quietly arresting” and “undeniably strange but weirdly compelling.”
Contact: TroyGronsdahl@gmail.com
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & SCREENINGS
2023 unFAQ, Projet EVA, Montreal
2018 One Once on Which Whatever What, AKA artist-run, Saskatoon, SK (solo exhibition)
2017 Storefront, Saskatoon, SK
2017 Altered States, 330g, Saskatoon, SK
2016 The same as the shape of an object, AKA artist run centre, Members’ Project, Saskatoon, SK
2016 Somewhere in the Middle, Toronto Art Book Fair, Toronto, ON
2015 Arrive, reach, revisit, turn and return, Charles H. Scott, Vancouver, BC
2014 Unscene, Videofag, Toronto, ON
2014 Fragments of a Former Moon, ECUAD, Vancouver, BC
2014 Break the Legs of What I Want to Happen, Access Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2013 The Knot, Seymour Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC (solo exhibition)
2013 On Becoming-Book, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, SK (3 person exhibition)
2013 The Knot, PAVED Arts screening series, Saskatoon, SK
2012 More of the same, The Gallery At Frances Morrison Library, Saskatoon, SK (solo exhibition)
2012 East/West, Modern Fuel, Kingston, ON
2011 Magmart International Videoart Festival, Casoria, Italy
2011 Mind the Gap!, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON
2010 Back and Gone, PAVED Arts, Saskatoon, SK (solo exhibition)
2010 Woo Gallery, Emily Carr Institute, Vancouver, BC (solo exhibition)
2010 Under New Management, MUSE, Toronto, ON
2010 Video Exchange, AKA Gallery, Saskatoon, SK
2010 Video Exchange, White Water Gallery, North Bay, ON
2010 STEM Cell: Phenomenology & Perception, Metro Cinema, Edmonton, AB
2009 Mind the Gap!, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, SK
2009 Contemporary Video Art Screening Series, Gallery Lambton, Sarnia, ON
2009 Reel Rave, Art Gallery of Prince Albert, Prince Albert, SK
2009 Video Exchange, XPACE Cultural Centre, Toronto, ON
2009 Video Exchange, Ed Video, Guelph, ON
2009 Video Exchange, Artspace, Peterborough, ON
2009 Video Exchange, Spark Contemporary, Syracuse, NY
2009 crossing the pond (artist emergings there and here), PAVED Arts, Saskatoon, SK
2009 Images Festival, Toronto, ON
2009 Dissecting the Narrative, Art Gallery of York University, Toronto, ON
2008 The Painful Parts, Eastern Edge, St. John’s, NL
2008 Lobetrotters, Eyelevel Gallery, Halifax, NS
2008 Video Valentine, PAVED Arts, Saskatoon, SK
2006 Did Not/Did Too, Royal Red, Saskatoon, SK
2006 Well Hung, Royal Red, Saskatoon, SK
2006 The Video Store, PAVED Art, Saskatoon, SK
2004 Member space, AKA Gallery, Saskatoon, SK (solo exhibition)
2003 PAVED Parking, PAVED Arts, Saskatoon, SK
2002 SPASM, Video Verite, Saskatoon, SK
2002 Equilateral, Harcourt House, Edmonton, AB
2002 Equilateral, The Photographers Gallery, Saskatoon, SK
2002 Equilateral, Fifth Parallel Gallery, Regina, SK
2002 Losing Elsie June, Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, Saskatoon, SK (solo exhibition)
2001 Joe, Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, Saskatoon, SK (solo exhibition)
2001 USSU video festival, Place Riel Theatre, Saskatoon, SK
2000 Videosynchracy, The Photographers Gallery, Saskatoon, SK
2000 14th Annual National Student Film & Video Festival, antechamber gallery and cinemateque, Regina, SK
SELECTED CURATORIAL & RELATED PROJECTS
2024 Other Arrangements: Poetics of the Performance Score, Saskatoon, SK: Remai Modern
2023 Picasso: Becoming the Faun, Saskatoon, SK: Remai Modern
2023 Here and Now, Saskatoon, SK: Remai Modern
2022 Lesley Flanigan: Resonances, Saskatoon, SK: Remai Modern
2022 Tino Sehgal, Saskatoon, SK: Remai Modern
2022 In the Middle of Everywhere: Artists on the Great Plains (with Rose Bouthillier, Sandra Fraser, Tarah Hogue, and Michelle Jacques), Saskatoon, SK: Remai Modern
2021 Nic Wilson, A Dying Hare, Saskatoon, SK: Remai Modern
2021 Shannon Litzenberger, Everyday Marvels, Saskatoon, SK: Remai Modern
2021 Sustained Artist Engagement Series, Saskatoon, SK: Remai Modern
2020 Bridget Moser: My Crops Are Dying But My Body Persists, Remai Modern
2019 If I have a body (co-curated with Rose Bouthillier and Sandra Fraser), Remai Modern
2019 Laakkuluk Williamson-Bathory, Remai Modern
2019 Marites Carino, Handshack, Saskatoon, SK: Remai Modern
2018 Ellen Moffat, Small Sonorities: A Little Piece of String, Remai Modern
2018 Dave McKenzie: This Is A Body, Remai Modern
2018 Anton Vidokle: Citizens of the Cosmos, Remai Modern
2017 Stine Janvin, Fake Synthetic, Remai Modern.
2017 Maria Hassabi: STAGING, Remai Modern
2016 Kara Uzelman, The Cohesion of Bodies, Remai Modern.
2016 Tanya Lukin Linklater, the the, Remai Modern
2015 Lori Blondea & Adrian Stimson, The Birds, The Bees, The Berries, Remai Modern
2014 Sympathetic Magic, Mendel Art Gallery (e-publication)
2013 Rodney LaTourelle: Leaves (co-curated with Oliver Botar), Mendel Art Gallery
2012 The Names of Things, Mendel Art Gallery (e-publication)
2012 Forced Perspective, Mendel Art Gallery
2010 Works on Paper (co-curated with Troy Mamer), Mendel Art Gallery
2009 crossing the pond (artist emergings there and here), Paved Arts, Saskatoon, SK
2006 Cindy Baker: The Wetaskiwin of Saskatchewan
2006 Patrick Bulas: Trace Patterns
2006 Bart Peter Gazzola
2006 Matt McMillan
2006 Yuka Yamaguchi: My Mind is Everywhere
2006 Todd Gronsdahl: Spanish Influenza
2005 Amalie Atkins: Wind Chill Masks
2005 Amalie Atkins, Tamara Bond & Dawna Rose: Mechanics of the Mind or What I Did on My Summer Holidays
2005 Group Show: The 1st Annual Cans Filth Festival
2004 Tamara Bond: My Left Hand
2004 Chris Allen & Graham Olver
SELECTED MUSICAL PERFORMANCES
2012 MOSO Festival, Saskatoon, SK
2011 Transmusicale Festival, Rennes, France
2010 Western Canadian Tour – Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon
2009 CBC: Canada Live National Broadcast
2008 Regina Folk Festival
2007 European Tour – Newcastle, United Kingdom; Portlioase, Ireland; Brussels, Kortrijk, Belgium; Frauenfeld, Wauwill, Switzerland; Paris, Toulouse, Amiens, Bordeaux, France
2007 Japanese Tour – Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka
2007 POP Montreal Festival
2007 Eastern Canadian Tour – Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal
2007 Western Canadian Music Awards & Festival – Moose Jaw, SK
2006 European Tour – Paris, Toulouse, Amiens, Bordeaux, France; Frauenfeld, Lucerne, Switzerland; Wurzburg, Bremin, Germany
2006 Bachelors Drinking Club Tour – Montreal, Ottawa, London, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon
2005 Western Canadian Tour – Victoria, Vancouver, Kelowna, Golden, Nelson, Red Deer, Edmonton, Saskatoon
2003 Western Canadian Music Awards & Festival – Regina, SK
2002 Canadian Tour – Victoria, Vancouver, Kamloops, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, London, Guelph, Ottawa, Toronto
DISCOGRAPHY, solo projects
2021 soso & Maki – If and Only If (LP)
Endemik Music, Canada; Mism Records, Switzerland and Audio Recon, USA
2021 soso & Maki – If and Only If (Cassette)
Hello.L.A. (France)
2021 soso – Tinfoil on the Windows (LP)
Endemik Music, Canada; Mism Records, Switzerland and Audio Recon, USA
2013 soso – Not for Nothing (LP)
Endemik Music, Canada
2013 soso – Not for Nothing (LP)
Endemik Music, Canada
2013 soso – Not for Nothing (CD)
Kütu Folk Records, France
2010 soso – Tinfoil on the Windows (CD)
Kütu Folk Records, France
2009 soso – choke w/ Motionless (7”)
Mism Records, Switzerland
2007 soso – Tinfoil on the Windows (CD)
Endemik Music, Canada
2006 soso – Bachelors’ Drinking Club (DVD)
Clothes Horse Records, Canada
2006 soso – birthday songs II (CD)
Hue Records, Japan
2005 soso – tenth street and clarence (CD)
Clothes Horse Records, Canada
2005 soso – tenth street and clarence (CD)
Hue Records, Japan
2005 soso – tenth street and clarence (LP)
Subversiv*Rec, Germany
2004 soso – The Goose Hunter pt 1 & 2 (7”)
Clothes Horse Records, Canada
2004 soso – poor man’s survey (CD)
Clothes Horse Records, Canada
2002 soso – birthday songs (CD)
Clothes Horse Records, Canada
2000 soso – sour suite (LP)
Clothes Horse Records, Canada
co-productions and collaborations
2009 Nestor Wynrush – Trinnipeg !78 (CD)
Clothes Horse Records, Canada
2009 soso & DJKutdown – all they found was water at the bottom of the sea (CD)
Hue Records, Japan
2006 Recyclone & soso – Stagnation and Woe (CD)
Clothes Horse Records, Canada
2004 Epic – Local Only (LP)
Subversiv*Rec, Germany
2004 Epic – Local Only (CD)
Clothes Horse Records, Canada
2003 Epic – Heater in My Truck EP (LP)
Clothes Horse Records, Canada
2001 Epic – 8:30 in Newfoundland (CD)
Clothes Horse Records, Canada
other production credits, compilations & collaborations
2021 Endemik Remote Ensemble, They Fired With Their Lives [Digital]
2021 From Saskatoon to Winnipeg 2000-2008 (V/A), Saskatoon Folk Rap Records
2021 Matt Low, La ruée vers l’or
2014 Economics, The Wastes
2014 mism 10 (V/A)
2010 zoën – One Night Between (V/A)
2010 The Crackwalker by Judith Thompson, Directed by Kristen Holfeuer (Theatre)
2009 soso – Choke split 7″
2008 Epic – Aging is What Friends Do Together
2008 Turbid (Film)
2008 Epic – Aging is What Friends Do Together
2008 SCN – Creative City (TV)
2007 SaskMusic – In Tune Saskatchewan (V/A)
2006 Hue – Hue and Laugh and Cry (V/A)
2006 Under the Skin: Drugs, Dreams and Demons (TV)
2006 CFCR – Centennial Music Compilation (V/A)
2005 M.Phasis – Sound Galleries
2005 Nolto – Red All Over
2005 Factor – Heights
2003 the World after 04/02 – Vikings & Waffles
2003 Dead Can’t Bounce – I Ain’t Afraid…
2003 Factor – Console Confessions
2002 Factor – Time Invested
2001 Pip Skid – Friends 4ever
2001 HHI – Fishin in Troubled Waters (V/A)
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2018 Bouthillier, Rose. “Ways of Thinking.”
AKA artist-run, Saskatoon, SK; exhibition essay
2014 Hughes, Tarin; Sympathetic Magic
C Magazine, Toronto, ON; exhibition review
2013 Fornwald, Blair; “Writing in the Margins.” DAG Volumes: No. 2 (2013)
Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, SK; exhibition catalogue
2013 Henderson, Lee; On Surrender as an Act of Infiltration
PAVED Arts, Saskatoon, SK; exhibition essay
2012 Gazzola, Bart; History Repeating
Planet S Magazine, Saskatoon, SK; exhibition review
2010 Wawzonek, Donna; Back and Gone
Blackflash Magazine, Saskatoon, SK; exhibition review
2010 LaRiviere, David; Back and Gone
PAVED Arts, Saskatoon, SK; exhibition essay
2010 Gazzola, Bart; Senses And Sensibility: Installation with movement,
space and silence
Planet S Magazine, Saskatoon, SK; exhibition review
2009 Cachia, Amanda; Nye, Jeff; Mind the Gap!
Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, SK; exhibition catalogue
2009 Phillips, Heather; Dissecting the Narrative
Art Gallery of York University, Toronto, ON; exhibition brochure
2006 Dallett, Timothy; The Video Store
PAVED Arts, Saskatoon, SK; exhibition brochure
2002 Baker, Cindy; Fabo, Andy; Moffat, Ellen; Spasmodic : A Public Affair
PAVED Art + New Media, Saskatoon, SK; exhibition catalogue
2002 Pederson-Bradbury, Danny, Equilateral.
Harcourt Expressed. February-April, 2002. Edmonton, AB
The Sheaf. January 31, 2002. Saskatoon, SK
REVIEWS
soso Not for Nothing
2013 Pop News, France
2013 Ominocity, Canada
2013 Gaîté Live, France
2013 Freezeec, France
2013 Exclaim, Canada
2013 Hartzine, France
2013 Surlmag, France
2013 Dead Magazine, Germany
2013 Beats, Breaks & Big Smiles, Sweden
soso Tinfoil on the Windows
2010 Muzzart, France
2010 Hartzine, France
2010 Froggy Delight, France
2010 La musique à papa, France
2010 Magic, Revue Pop Moderne, France
2010 0Plus0, France
2010 Foutraque, France
2010 IndiePopRock, France
2008 University Chronicle, US
2008 Sparkplugg.com, US
2007 Fake for Real, France
2007 PopMatters, USA
2007 Rues de Bruxelles, Belgium
2007 Drowned in Sound, UK
2007 Norman Records, UK
2007 All Music Guide, USA
2007 Grapeshift, UK
2007 Gaffa, Denmark
2007 Autresdirections.net, France
2007 Fake For Real, France
2007 3 Bar Fire, UK
2007 Exclaim! Magazine, Canada
2007 Goddeau, Belgium
soso tenth street and clarence
2005 Serie B, Spain
2005 PopNews, France
2005 NoCritic, France
2005 Bounce, Japan
soso The Goose Hunter pt 1&2
2004 Dot-Alt, London, UK.
soso birthday songs
2002 Hip Hop Section, France
2002 Exclaim! August 2002, Toronto, ON
soso sour suite
2001 The Star Phoenix, Saskatoon, Canada
2001 Exclaim! Toronto, Canada
2001 Hip Hop Section, France
2000 Underground Sound Magazine, Edmonton, Canada
2000 Hip Hop Infinity, USA
INTERVIEWS & FEATURES
2009 Dazed, UK
2009 Tranzistor, Greece
2009 Ugsmag.com, Canada
2007 Urbnet, Toronto, Canada
2007 Cream Magazine, Czech
2007 Ugsmag.com, Canada
2007 Freezeec.com, France
2007 Stylus Magazine, Winnipeg, Canada
2007 The Sheaf, Saskatoon, Canada
2007 Unsung, CBC Television, Canada
2006 Dead Magazine, Germany
2006 Montreal Mirror, Montreal, Canada
2006 Underground Sound Magazine, USA
2006 Planet S Magazine (cover), Saskatoon, Canada
2006 Underground Hip Hop, Switzerland
2005 The Star Phoenix, Saskatoon, Canada
2005 Honest, USA
2005 Plop, Japan
2005 Back Yard League, USA
2004 The Sheaf, Saskatoon, Canada
2003 CBC Radio 3, Canada
2003 Much Music, Going Coastal, Canada
2003 Terminal City, Vancouver, Canada
2003 Hip Hop Section, France
2002 Futility Records, Vancouver, Canada
2002 The Sheaf, Saskatoon, Canada
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2023 Independent Artists Grant, SK Arts
2022 Saskatchewan Arts Award, Leadership – Individual
2021 Saskatchewan Music Awards, Hip Hop Artist of the Year
2017 Canada Council for the Arts, Project Grants to Visual Artists
2016 Governor General’s Academic Medal
2016 Saskatchewan Arts Board, Independent Artists Grant
2016 Creative Saskatchewan Grant
2014 President’s Research Fund, Emily Carr University of Art and Design
2013 Emily Carr University of Art and Design Scholarship
2013 Saskatchewan Arts Board, Travel Grant
2011 Saskatchewan Arts Board, Travel Grant
2008 Saskatchewan Arts Board, Independent Artists Grant
2007 SaskMusic Grant
2007 FACTOR Grant
2004 SaskMusic Grant
2003 Western Canadian Music Awards, nominee
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING & RESIDENCIES
2015 Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Masters of Fine Arts, Governor General’s Academic Medal
2002 University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK
Bachelors of Fine Arts, with Great Distinction
2014 Banff Centre Artist in Residence
2011 Emma Lake Kenderdine Campus, Creative Residency