MCLA Gallery 51

I Hold Nothing / I have Everything

Sunny Allis Solo Exhibition

"Maps #1," acrylic on cardboard, 66’’ x 31’’, 2022

August 4 - September 15 at Gallery 51

Opening reception August 4, 5:00-8:00pm

Sunny Allis works intuitively and with embodied physicality to create works that convey a heightened state of aliveness, spontaneity, and play. They explore transformation as a generative state of creation, and celebrate the queer/trans body as expansive, dynamic and limitless. Many of Sunny’s projects focus on community and connection through different mediums of storytelling. Sunny released a gender-inclusive, bilingual children’s book called Hooray, What A Day!/¡Viva, Qué Día! They are currently developing a multimedia, inclusive kids TV show called All Together Now! 

Sunny (they/them) is a trans non-binary multidisciplinary artist. Sunny studied directing and design for theater at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and received their MFA from California Institute of the Arts in Integrated Media. At Occidental College, the City of Santa Monica, and Kidspace Children’s Museum, among other organizations, they have created several interactive public art installations that take people through imaginary worlds and immersive environments. Their animations have won awards internationally, including at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Madrid Experimental Film Festival, and the Linoleum Festival in Moscow. Sunny has worked for many years as an educator in schools and with communities of all backgrounds. They have taught classes in sculptural storytelling, world building, musical performance, recycled art assemblage, puppetry, and public art. Sunny is passionate about engaging people’s voices and visions, so they feel empowered as change-makers, transforming themselves and the world around them.