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Sonia Romero

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Sonia Romero
Born1980 (age 43–44)
Los Angeles, California, US
NationalityAmerican
Alma materRhode Island School of Design
Known forChicana art, Los Angeles art
Notable workMacarthur Park Metro Station, "Urban Oasis", 2010
Styleprintmaking, murals
Children2[1]
Parents
RelativesEdith R. Wyle (maternal grandmother),
Frank S. Wyle (maternal grandfather),
Noah Wyle (cousin),
David A. Romero (cousin)
Websitewww.soniaromero.net

Sonia Amalia Romero (born 1980 in Los Angeles, California)[2] is an American artist, she is known for her printmaking, mixed media linocut prints, murals, and public art based in Los Angeles. She is known for depicting Los Angeles, Latin American imagery, and Chicano themes in her work.

Romero has had artwork commissioned by the Los Angeles County Art Commission, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.[3][4][5] She is known for straddling the world of both fine art and public art, as her prints are often exhibited in galleries and she collaborates with civic organizations in producing public art, such as the public pool murals created with the Los Angeles Conservation Corp.[4]

Biography

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Sonia Romero was born in 1980 in Los Angeles, California.[2] Her parents are artists, Nancy (née Wyle) and Frank Romero, and she is the granddaughter of Frank S. Wyle and Edith R. Wyle, founders of the Craft and Folk Art Museum and Wyle Laboratories. She is of Russian–Jewish descent on her mother's side and Mexican and Spanish descent on her father's side.[6][7]

Romero is a graduate of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, and she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2002, where she studied printmaking.[3][8][9] Her first solo show was in September 2006 at the Avenue 50 Studio, where she exhibited paintings, prints and mixed media especially block printing. Since then, she has been highly recognizable for her public artwork, such as the mosaic print installation at the MacArthur Park Metro Station.[10]

From 2007 until 2014, she was artist-in-residence at Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park.

Her work is included in the permanent collection at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas.[2]

Art

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Romero's work is known for its clear crisp lines, use of iconography, and reflection of life in Los Angeles. Much of Romero's work is made in Los Angeles, embedded in, and reflects the city. She has stated in interviews that as a student she was drawn to printmaking because of its potential for mass communication, through the built-in ability for multiplying designs.[11] Her work is considered part of the serigraph tradition. Her work integrates symbols associated with Chicano, Latino, and Hispanic cultures, but often also addresses contemporary issues. For instance, her 2014 piece, Bee Pile, included in the Estampas de la Raza exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Art, brought together iconography from her ethnic background with mediations of honey bees to draw attention to Colony Collapse Disorder.[11][3]

Dambrot of KCET, describes Romero's latest ongoing print series, "Revolving Landscape" as:

...the story of her whole life and career -- a story of a diversity of intertwined and overlapping influences, from her parents (both painters) to her neighborhood (North East LA) to her education (Rhode Island School of Design) that have each left indelible marks on who she is and what she is about. And that is, the fusion of those influences into a deeply personal, deliberately accessible modern traditionalism, expressing itself in the romantic, thorny, fabulist urban storytelling that has made her one of the brightest rising stars in the local visual-culture firmament.

— Shana Nys Dambrot, "Sonia Romero: From her Print Studio in North East LA, an Artist Depicts and Adorns her Imagination and the Public Life of a City"

Romero is also considered a favorite artist among the "indie art" community, with a popular Etsy store, She Rides the Lion (named after her studio), where she previously sold her prints.[12]

Notable works

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A select list of notable work by Romero, listed by ascending date.

  • Lady Artesia, 2017, ceramic tile mural, located at Artesia Library, Artesia, California[13]
  • They Fly Through the Water, 2014, located at Belvedere Pool, East Los Angeles, California
  • Bee Pile, 2014, this was a site specific installation located at Figueroa Produce, Highland Park, Los Angeles, California
  • Fall, 2012, collagraph print
  • Inner Landscape, 2011, silk screen, The Buck Collection at UCI Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art, University of California, Irvine (UCI)[14][15]
    • Sonia Romero studied yoga and meditation which influenced her to create this self portrait. This work portrays the transition from looking at outwardly sources for inspiration into looking inside yourself for inspiration. By closing your eyes, you are able to find information in your body that you can find in the outside world.[14]
  • Urban Oasis, 2010, ceramic tile mural, located at MacArthur Park Metro Station, Los Angeles, California[16][17]
  • The Water Cycle: Eternal Flow / El Ciclo Del Agua: Eterno Manantial, 2008, City Terrace Park Pool, Los Angeles, California

Exhibitions

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A select list of exhibitions.

References

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  1. ^ "Meet Sonia Romero". Voyage LA Magazine. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  2. ^ a b c "Collection". McNay Art Museum. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  3. ^ a b c Dambrot, Shana Nys (20 July 2012). "Sonia Romero: From her Print Studio in North East LA, an Artist Depicts and Adorns her Imagination and the Public Life of a City". KCET.org. KCETLink Media Group. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  4. ^ a b "ATLANTIC AVENUE PARK POOL THE WATER CYCLE: ETERNAL FLOW / EL CICLO DEL AGUA: ETERNO MANANTIAL". LA County Art Commission. LA County. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  5. ^ "MacArthur Park, Urban Oasis, 2010". Metro. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Hollywood Now: Noah Wyle - Raised Interfaith, Raising Interfaith Kids". 18Doors. 2013-07-31. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  7. ^ "Chicano art pioneer Frank Romero is still painting, still loves cars and still defends ugly palm trees". Los Angeles Times. 2017-03-09. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  8. ^ "Sonia Romero Debut Solo Show". Experience LA. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Overview". Vincent Price Art Museum. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  10. ^ Gilbert, Jim (18 February 2012). "Sonia Romero's Urban Oasis at the MacArthur Park Metro Station". Curating LA. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  11. ^ a b Dasal, Jennifer. "A Conversation with Sonia Romero". North Carolina Museum of Art. North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  12. ^ "She Rides the Lion... California, USA". Indie Pretty Perfect. Sweet Olive Press. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  13. ^ "Lady Artesia". LA County Arts Commission. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  14. ^ a b IMCA, Langson (2022-09-19), Sonia Romero: Inner Landscape, retrieved 2022-11-16
  15. ^ a b "Dissolve – UCI Langson IMCA". imca.uci.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  16. ^ "MacArthur Park, Urban Oasis". www.metro.net. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  17. ^ Gilbert, Jim (18 February 2012). "Sonia Romero's Urban Oasis at the MacArthur Park Metro Station". Curating LA. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  18. ^ ¡Printing the revolution! : the rise and impact of Chicano graphics, 1965 to now. E. Carmen Ramos, Tatiana Reinoza, Terecita Romo, Claudia E. Zapata, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Washington, DC. 2020. ISBN 978-0-691-21080-3. OCLC 1159633248.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  19. ^ Riefe, Jordan (2017-10-26). "How Modern Day Día de los Muertos Came to L.A." KCET. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  20. ^ "Community Events" (PDF). El Tecolote. 2014-04-10. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  21. ^ "Past exhibition, Chicano Dream". Le site officiel du musée d'Aquitaine. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  22. ^ "Estampas de la Raza: Contemporary Prints from the Romo Collection" (PDF). Vincent Price Art Museum. 2014-12-12. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  23. ^ "Estampas de la Raza: Contemporary Prints from the Romo Collection". National Museum of Mexican Art. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  24. ^ Kowalski, Emily (2014-02-26). "North Carolina Museum of Art Presents Exhibitions of Contemporary Latino Prints and Children's Book Illustrations" (PDF). North Carolina Museum of Art. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  25. ^ "Pick of the Day: "Estampas de la Raza: Contemporary Prints from the Romo Collection"". San Antonio Current. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  26. ^ "Upcoming Exhibitions". The Albuquerque Museum, New Mexico. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  27. ^ "Why Mr. Price, You Amaze Me - Touring the Vincent Price Art Museum". LA Explorer. 2011-08-17. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
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