JOHN SONSINI

John Sonsini

9 December 2021 - 29 January 2022
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MILES McENERY GALLERY is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by John Sonsini. The artist’s third solo exhibition at the gallery will open on 9 December at 511 West 22nd Street and remain on view through 29 January 2021. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated publication featuring an essay by David Pagel.
(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

(Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, John Sonsini, 9 December 2021 - 29 January 2022.
"Sonsini's portraits translate his desire-driven engagements with others into a form that invites us to experience similar identity-confounding engagements—imaginatively and contemplatively, of course, but they are no less resonant for their introspective, soul-searching nature. When we viewers enter the picture, metaphorically and more, our interactions with Sonsini’s subjects pick up where his left off. His portraits present us with images in which it’s difficult to determine who’s revealing more of their themselves."

- David Pagel, "Empathy"
- John Sonsini
  Gabriel, 2021
  Oil on canvas
  72 x 60 inches
  182.9 x 152.4 cm
- John Sonsini
  Gabriel, 2021
  Oil on canvas
  72 x 60 inches
  182.9 x 152.4 cm
Close
JOHN SONSINI

Gabriel, 2021

Oil on canvas

72 x 60 inches

182.9 x 152.4 cm

"Empathy is Sonsini’s great subject. The bedrock of everything he does as an artist resides in his exploration of how an individual’s emotional involvement with another shapes both perception and knowledge, often transforming one’s relationship to everything around one—including one’s self. The fundamental connection between people is at the core of his work as an artist."

- David Pagel, "Empathy"
- John Sonsini
  Josef, 2021
  Oil on canvas
  
  48 x 36 inches
  121.9 x 91.4 cm
- John Sonsini
  Enrique, 2021
  Oil on canvas
  
  48 x 36 inches
  121.9 x 91.4 cm
Close
"When Sonsini first saw the malabaristas performing their fugitive concerts and DIY acrobatics he was riveted. Images of Pablo Picasso’s "saltimbanques" flashed through his head, as did his own very early still life paintings of the outfits and costumes from Bob Mizer’s legendary photography studio, Athletic Model Guild, not to mention Sonsini’s paintings of day workers, who sometimes came to the studio dressed for the weekend—to play soccer, ride horses, or in their Sunday finest: often in the hats, belts, and boots of vaqueros."

- David Pagel, "Empathy"
John Sonsini
Jorge & Hilberto, 2021
Oil on canvas
72 x 60 inches
182.9 x 152.4 cm

"The fascination Sonsini felt on first seeing the malabaristas is integral to all his paintings; the jaw-dropping, a-ha moment of this-is-it excitement is there at the start of each portrait. Without it, Sonsini would never begin the laborious process of making a portrait—of finding a sitter, doing study after study, first in pencil and then in watercolor, and only then going to oil on canvas and working day after day, week after week."

- David Pagel, "Empathy"
Close
- John Sonsini
  Apt. 206, 2019
  Oil on canvas
  45 x 36 inches
  114.3 x 91.4 cm
- John Sonsini
  Apt. 210, 2021
  Oil on canvas
  48 x 36 inches
  121.9 x 91.4 cm
Close
- John Sonsini
  Gabriel, 2021
  Oil on canvas
  72 x 60 inches
  182.9 x 152.4 cm
- John Sonsini
  Gabriel & Francisco, 2020
  Oil on canvas
  72 x 60 inches
  182.9 x 152.4 cm
Close
John Sonsini
Duo, Will & Francisco, 2019
Oil on canvas
72 x 60 inches
182.9 x 152.4 cm

"The mystery intrinsic to identity is embodied by the men in Sonsini’s portraits. So, too, is the distance intrinsic to all human relationships. After all, empathy begins in distance—and grows from there. That’s what Sonsini offers viewers: Taking us outside ourselves, his portraits draw us into their worlds—and beyond."

- David Pagel, "Empathy"
John Sonsini Studio, 2021, Los Angeles, California
JOHN SONSINI (b. 1950, Rome, NY) received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from California State University, Northridge in Northridge, CA.

Recent solo exhibitions include Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, N Y; “Cowboy Stories & New Paintings,” Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; “A Day’s Labor: Portraits by John Sonsini,” Art, Design & Architecture Museum, University of California Santa Barbara, CA; “Daywork: Portraits,” Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA; Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York, NY; Patrick Painter Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; and “John Sonsini: New Paintings,” Bentley Gallery, Phoenix, AZ.

Recent group exhibitions include “Art and Hope at the End of the Tunnel” (curated by Edward Goldman), Fischer Museum, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; “Really.” (curated by Inka Essenhigh & Ryan McGinness), Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; “20 Years,” Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; “The Warmth of Other Suns: Stories of Global Displacement,” The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; “Collecting on the Edge,” Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, Logan, UT; “Belief in Giants,” Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; “Modern and Contemporary,” Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA; and “The Sweat of Their Face: Portraying American Workers,” National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

His work is in the public collections of the Art, Design & Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL; The Broad Art Foundation, Santa Monica, C A; Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, N Y; Cornell University, Ithaca, N Y; Fundación AMMA, Mexico City, Mexico; Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, CA; Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; The McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN; Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University, Topeka, KS; Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, CA; Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA; and The Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C

Sonsini lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

View More

John Sonsini