Sonny's Fight for Endangered Wildlife in the Concrete Jungle

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Acclaimed South African street artist Sonny brings his fight for endangered wildlife to New York city in his exhibition To The Bone

Who: Sonny – South African (British-born) street artist with international recognition will be exhibiting a new body of work, with never-before-seen canvas pieces titled, To The Bone in New York this May. The exhibition marks the culmination of a worldwide tour of mural painting in various cities around the world, including The Netherlands, Canada, Russia, USA, South Africa, UK, and others.

Sonny’s high level of detail in his murals –sometimes using 200-300 shades of color– and definition stunned the street art community, and engaged interest from the fine art world. His ability to create realistic looking fur on the flat plain of the wall created a hype around his work that has grown immensely. With his pre-released prints selling out within hours and several of the original works already on reserve, we are anticipating a highly successful show.

What/Why: Sonny is using his exceptional artistry and this art initiative to increase awareness of the fast-approaching demise of our world’s wildlife and how this is intrinsically tied to humanity’s own ability to thrive.

A selection of limited edition hand-finished prints will be available for purchase during the show. Through the sales of Sonny’s artwork, he will also be raising funds to benefit Project C.A.T., a collaboration between Discovery Communications and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) which aims to ensure a healthy habitat for future generations of tigers by helping conserve nearly two million acres of protected land in India and Bhutan. One of the original artworks will be auctioned off at the event to further support Project C.A.T. and their work towards doubling the number of tigers in the wild by 2022.

Where: 393 Broadway, New York, NY, 10013 (One block from Canal Street)

When: The exhibition will commence on Thursday May 17, 2018 through May 19, 2018. There will be a Press/ VIP Preview from 6-7 PM on that day, with the public opening commencing from 7PM. The exhibition will be open for viewing during the day, May 18 - 19, 2018, Noon - 6pm. Public can RSVP for opening night at https://sonnytothebone.splashthat.com/

Best known for his enormous and exquisitely detailed spray-painted murals, Sonny has recently honed his painting skills to present a series of large-scale canvas pieces. In To the Bone, Sonny depicts a story of regression and destruction - an epic of nature and our heritage deteriorating under the twin pressures of civilization and expansionism. Individual pieces portrays an intimate portrait of an endangered species, a gorilla, a rhino, an elephant, a lion, a tiger, a panda, and so on.Half of each animals’ face has been stripped of flesh down to the bone, where the artist has meticulously decorated the animals skull with the patterns of tribes local to that species’ origin.