Jodi Bonassi

I spent over three decades drawing and painting people in places of communal exchange. My works brought opportunities to exhibit locally nationally and even internationally. Like Alice Neal I looked for the soul of each person.

In 2020 the pandemic brought change from the beauty and pain of each person to the serenity and spirituality inherent in nature. The world had become too overwhelming.

I had always added animals and birds and creatures into my works of people. Now birds in nature are the focus. I am blessed to have friends and others who offer their photography of bird moments from birding, hikes and moments catching a shot of a feathered friend. I am blessed with references that offer me inspiration. I embellish the backgrounds, interpreting foliage, trees, and skies with the patterns and forms from nature and my imagination. Insects both flying and otherwise are present or hidden.

Process is a huge part of my practice. I love mixing colors and relate to the colorist Pierre Bonnard. I never worry about the result, as this is a projection of a future, which none of us knows. I do the work and the shows follow.

My biggest joy and inspiration for all my artwork has and will always be my son. Being a mother forever teaches us the preciousness of all life.

Jodi Bonassi is from Los Angeles. Her narrative paintings and drawings explore diversity, and the human condition.

Exhibiting since 1991, her works have garnered reviews, awards and articles, locally and nationally. On “Chungking Alley” Mat Gleason quotes: “My impressions of the piece are that it asserts its own art historical narrative instead of submitting to academic structures and choices. An amazing dreamscape narrative with painterly precision”. (2015, Genie Davis, “LA Art Scene Mural-On Canvas”)

Bonassi’s work has been reviewed/published in the Boston Globe, LA Times, Flavorpill, Hair's How Magazine (Russia),The Chronicle Review, Art and Living, Harpers Magazine, Studio Visit Magazine (2012, 2008, Ocean Press) and Los Angeles Art Association Volume 1 Catalogue (2009, Samuel Hoi, President of Otis College of Art and Design). She has exhibited locally and nationally and has been published internationally. She is the recipient of the Hans Burkhardt Memorial Scholarship and other awards of merit. Curators who have chosen her works for exhibition include Franklin Sirmans, Head Curator at LACMA, Ali Subotnik, Curator for the Hammer Museum and others. She also was selected to paint on a 9 foot fiber glass guitar to honor Lou Adler and the other founders of the Sunset Strip. The guitar sold in the top ten at Julien's Auction House. This was part of a re-vitalization program. Her work has been recognized by esteemed Los Angeles art critic, Peter Frank, Mat Gleason (renown art critic and gallery owner), Betty Brown, Highly respected Art Historian, Art Writer and Curator and others. Other noted curators are Jonathan Greene, Director of exhibitions for the Hunterdon Art Museum (2012), Ann Philbin from the Hammer Museum (2006), Cliff Benjamin from Western Projects (2008), Marc Pachter from the Smithsonian Institute, and other noteworthy curators. Jodi Bonassi’s work has been selected for her unique take on the public narrative and how community links people in interesting ways. Her depictions of the world are slightly skewed based on her own vision. Jodi Bonassi has an extensive exhibition record in regional institutions and galleries and is fiercely committed to her painting career. Affiliated galleries: The Loft At Liz's, Coagula Curatorial and other LA galleries. jbonassi@aol.com. 818 274-7393

www.jodibonassiart.com, resume is available upon request