Something

On Friday, January 27, from 6 to 9 p.m., the Cincinnati Arts Association’s Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts will open three new exhibitions: Something, an ambitious site-specific installation by Cincinnati sculptor Sonja Henrixson, that contrasts the randomness of the natural world with the order of the built environment; "In the Spaces We Talk," a new series of large-scale ethereal paintings and intimate works on paper by Cincinnati painter Yvonne van Eijden; and A Personal Odyssey, an eclectic mix of paintings, jewelry and elaborate mixed-media installation by Chicago artist Martin Bernstein. 

Sonja Henrixson (Cincinnati) creates large-scale natural forms and constructed forms that suggest primitive landscapes and simple architectural structures. Combining elements of her earlier sculptures developed during the past decade, Something represents an ambitious new effort by the artist to engage a large-scale architectural space. By significantly increasing the scale of her earlier works and continuing to work within a relatively simple vocabulary of forms, Henrixson strives to create an evocative landscape that engages the viewer on multiple levels. The installation will consist of more than sixty large-scale papier-mâché boulders—physically and laboriously shaped by the artist into rough, impenetrable, monochromatic forms that convey immense weight and scale; an intricately woven linear wire mesh "cloud" suspended above the boulder landscape that lyrically defies the gravity-burdened boulders below; and an open cube structure constructed from painted cedar posts, suggesting human effort to order and contain the natural world.

Sonja Henrixson is a sculptor and installation artist living in Cincinnati. She studied at the University of Cincinnati and the Art Academy of Cincinnati from 1969-72. In summer 1972, she completed a three-month program in painting and printmaking at Oxbow School of Art in Saugatuck, Mich. Henrixson has previously exhibited in Cincinnati at the College of Mount St. Joseph, C.A.G.E. Gallery, KZF Gallery, and the Suzanna Terrill Gallery. 

An informal Gallery Talk with the artist will be presented in the Weston Art Gallery on Tuesday, January 31 at 7 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.
 

Families Create! Education Workshop: Sat., Jan. 28, 10 a.m. - noon