‘Beautiful, Not Pretty’
Wonzimer Gallery
341-B S Avenue 17 Los Angeles 90031 / wonzimerinfo@gmail.com
Dates of Show: July 15 – August 19, 2022
Wonzimer is proud to unveil its newest gallery space with: ‘Beautiful, Not Pretty’ a group exhibition featuring five artists, Daniela Soberman, Meeson Pae, Alicia Piller, Cybele Rowe, and Ann Weber, who are known for their impressive sculpture work and awe-inspiring practice.
Daniela Soberman decided to become a sculptor the first day she laid hands on clay and has since moved on to develop large-scale interlocking sculptures with various materials, including styrofoam. Soberman's focus as a self-taught artist is to express a pure moment of emotion.
Meeson Pae Works with a variety of media from painting, video, sculpture, and installation, which explores natural and scientific phenomena from the microscopic to the macroscopic. Notable is her work using 3d printing technology which reflects systems of nature.
Alicia Piller merges the new and the discarded, experimenting with a wide range of materials to construct large-scale works that mimic forms of cellular biology. She envisions historical traumas through her subject matter which is often informed by her studies in anthropology and her sculptural process by her time in fashion and craft making.
Ann Weber started her journey with ceramics, after years of creating functional pottery she scaled her work to monumental sculptures by using found Cardboard. Her sculptures are neither entirely representational nor abstract, they invite the viewers to bring their own associations to the artwork. Ultimately her interest is in expanding the possibilities of making beauty from a common and mundane material.
Cybele Rowe began sculpting monumental ceramics, concrete, bronze, and wood over three decades ago. In her earliest works, Rowe confronts societal pressures on female beauty, she has since moved to the Californian desert to create containers that hold what she calls the inner sacred space
‘Beautiful, Not Pretty’ begs the question of how beauty leaves an impact that tantalizes the observer's mental state but goes beyond pure pleasure. Using ubiquitous materials these artists go deep, striving for harmony and balance while rejecting results that are merely pretty.
The monumental presence, even in smaller sculptures is in defiance of societal norms or conventions and accentuates confidence in the individual artists’ chosen materials. Through their elegance and beauty, the works demand intense mental participation and direct visceral responses.
