John Sonsini
John Sonsini embraces the painterly tradition. Thick, generous brush strokes add to his humanistic yet theatrical approach to his work. His primary subject is the Latino day worker in Los Angeles. Sonsini began taking annual work trips to Mexico City in the early 1980s. Captivated by Mexico City’s public art containing portraiture displaying Mexican history and culture by José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, etc., Sonsini found himself seeing similar faces on the streets of Los Angeles. In Sonsini’s work, the day laborers are removed from their context and painted without defined backgrounds, without clear, individual identities. Sonsini simultaneously looks to honestly represent the subject yet have the sitter be instantly familiar. At times, Sonsini will include a backpack, chair, hat, etc. with the subject, but focuses on telling personal stories, not work stories.
He has had solo exhibitions at Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University in Logan, Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, Cheim & Read in New York, and A.C.M.E. in Los Angeles. His work has been included in group exhibitions at institutions such as Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, San Francisco’s Museum Of Modern Art, and Portland Art Museum.
Courtesy of Ameringer | …
John Sonsini embraces the painterly tradition. Thick, generous brush strokes add to his humanistic yet theatrical approach to his work. His primary subject is the Latino day worker in Los Angeles. Sonsini began taking annual work trips to Mexico City in the early 1980s. Captivated by Mexico City’s public art containing portraiture displaying Mexican history and culture by José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, etc., Sonsini found himself seeing similar faces on the streets of Los Angeles. In Sonsini’s work, the day laborers are removed from their context and painted without defined backgrounds, without clear, individual identities. Sonsini simultaneously looks to honestly represent the subject yet have the sitter be instantly familiar. At times, Sonsini will include a backpack, chair, hat, etc. with the subject, but focuses on telling personal stories, not work stories.
He has had solo exhibitions at Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University in Logan, Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, Cheim & Read in New York, and A.C.M.E. in Los Angeles. His work has been included in group exhibitions at institutions such as Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, San Francisco’s Museum Of Modern Art, and Portland Art Museum.
Courtesy of Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe
