EXPO Chicago: Sarah Ann Weber

A Chicago native, Sarah Ann Weber, draws reference from the tumultuous unrest of her hometown in the 1960s. Her imagery explores the disconnect between violent scenes of protest during the 1968 Democratic National Convention and photos of Hugh Hefner lounging in the original Playboy Mansion, which was located in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. Hefner perfectly embodies this complicated moment in history; he was a political agitator despite his reputation as a flagrant hedonist, unapologetic in his pursuit of pleasure and opulence.

Weber bestows each image with a whirl of psychedelic colors and blossoms rendered in watercolor and colored pencil. Beneath each delicately patterned surface lies something unmistakably sinister. In the beautiful chaos, it becomes unclear whether figures are dancing or fighting, lounging or scheming.

Sarah Ann Weber (b. 1988, Chicago, IL) lives and works in Los Angeles. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute, Chicago and her MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She has had solo exhibitions at venues including Club Pro, Los Angeles; Some Time Salon, San Francisco; The Franklin, Chicago and Rena Sternberg Gallery, Glencoe, IL. Selected group exhibitions include Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco; Brand Library & Art Center, Glendale; MAUVE Gallery, Vienna, Austria; Green Gallery, Milwaukee, WI; Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, Brooklyn; Hunter Shaw Fine Art, Los Angeles; Galerie Nord/Kunstverein Tiergarten. Berlin; Locust Projects, Miami and Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago.