Elevate: Anthony Sonnenberg

Elevate at 21c presents temporary exhibitions of works by artists living and working in the Northwest Arkansas community.

The program provides hotel guests and visitors with unique access to the work of notable regional artists, while featuring their work in the context of 21c’s contemporary art space.

Anthony Sonnenberg was born in 1986 in Graham, TX, and is currently based in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He earned his BA from the University of Texas Austin (2009) and his MFA from the University of Washington Seattle (2012).

Sonnenberg’s hand-built ceramic sculptures echo the decadent elaborations of Baroque and Rococo fioriture. Initially reminiscent of past civilizations’ aesthetic efflorescence, upon closer inspection, the viewer can vaguely identify familiar modern tchotchkes built into the structure.

A multi-media artist, Sonnenberg often works with the Greek mythology of Silenus, the tutor and companion to the wine god, Dionysus. Believed to derive wisdom from over-indulgence in alcohol, Silenus’ became a key player in the story of King Midas, the ultimate cautionary tale to those over-consumed with passion for material wealth. Casting himself in the role of Silenus, Sonnenberg deftly explores the King Midas story, as well as later interpretations by Nietzsche, for whom art enables transcending the pessimistic ‘Wisdom of Silenus’