JOHN SONSINI AT WORK ON DAYLABOR, 2005. ARTWORK COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND ACME GALLERY, LOS ANGELES. PHOTO BY PABLO MASON.

John Sonsini's lush portraits of Mexican-American day laborers reinvigorate the contemporary practice of portraiture. Sonsini finds his subjects at ad-hoc sites throughout Los Angeles where day laborers gather in hopes of finding work. When he locates a laborer who excites his painterly imagination, he pays the man to return to the studio and sit for a portrait. Sonsini transforms the intensity, and sometimes discomfort, of this unusual social confrontation into vibrant and direct portraits.

During the month of February Sonsini worked, for the first time, outside his studio. He painted on site at a labor center run by the city of Los Angeles. Workers entered a lottery for the opportunity to be hired by the artist and have their portrait painted. Working seven days a week, Sonsini created a portrait head of a different subject. The resulting 28 canvases are installed as a Cerca Series exhibition at MCASD Downtown. His paintings are in the collection of MCASD and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Cerca Series: John Sonsini is made possible by Messner & Smith Investment Management.

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