John Sonsini Monoprint Workshop
Cirrus Gallery and Cirrus Editions Ltd. is currently working on a new series of lithographic monoprints by artist John Sonsini.
Join us at our workshop between 2pm-5pm, Saturday, June 29th for a public demonstration of the monoprinting process. In conjunction with GALLERYPLATFORM.LA opening weekend, Sonsini will be showing his finished works alongside works in progress. In this workshop you will see how Sonsini works with our 1956 Mailander Lithography press. Typically using oil paint, Sonsini translates his approach to oil lithography inks, working in consecutive layers to build up his images.
John Sonsini is an artist based in Los Angeles. His best known work is portraits of Latino day laborers, where Sonsini offers his subjects their usual wage in exchange for sitting for the paintings. He has also made work based on gay male erotica.
In his most recent work created during and after the pandemic, Sonsini has turned his interest towards the materials he uses. "I identify with the materials. That's who I am, a painter." Sonsini says.
This coming weekend, Saturday, June 22nd, Vielmetter Gallery will host a conversation between John Sonsini and critic and curator David Pagel for his upcoming monograph by Radius books. "I think John Sonsini may be the greatest portrait painter in the country" Pagel says.
John Sonsini was born in Rome, NY in 1950 and received his BA from California State University Northridge in 1975. His work will be the subject of a book written by David Pagel and published by Radius Books forthcoming in 2024. Recent solo exhibitions include A Day’s Labor: Portraits by John Sonsini, Art Design & Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA; and Daywork: Portraits, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA.
His work has been featured in group exhibitions at the Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY; Tang Teaching Museum, Saratoga Springs, NY; Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, Logan, UT; the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA; the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D. C. and at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. His work is in the public collections of the Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA; AD&A Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA; Addison Gallery of American Art, Philips Academy, Andover, MA; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL; The Broad Art Foundation, Santa Monica, CA; Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, NY; Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; The Frances Young Tang Museum, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY; Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, CA; Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Marieluise Hessel Collection, Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN; The Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University, Topeka, KS; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County College, Overland Park, KS; Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, Logan, UT; 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; The Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; The Weatherspoon Museum, Greensboro, NC; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York