BRIDGEPORT — A neighborhood arts gallery and events venue, salonlb., is showcasing its latest “Feminist to The Core” exhibit this weekend, featuring the work of more than 25 local, national and international artists.
Exhibitgoers can see artwork made from an array of different media — paintings, sculptures, photography, clothing and more — as each piece explores nuanced and empowering takes on feminism and womanhood.
“It’s a very important show that’s showcasing the voices and talents of women,” said salonlb. Associate Director Scott Renfro, who is also a curator and art consultant. “It’s for women but it’s equally as important for men to see the show, because women should support women and men should also support women.”
“Feminist to the Core” debuted Aug. 18 and runs through Oct. 1. In honor of the exhibit’s final days, salonlb. is hosting a casual closing reception 6-10 p.m. Friday at the gallery, 1010 W. 35th St. in Suite 500. Tickets are free online, with a $10 suggested donation at the door.
Visitors can also see the exhibit during salonlb.’s regular business hours, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, or by appointment.
Since opening in 2018, salonlb. has hosted a variety of multidisciplinary events, including exhibits, pop-up artist markets, yoga classes, artmaking workshops and more. It also represents 19 artists from around the city and region.
The gallery was founded by Lauren Brescia, a Chicago-based artist working in mixed media — creating art with industrial building materials, craft supplies, fabric, found objects and more. salonlb. is Brescia’s “brainchild,” Renfro said.
“We met as young art consultants at a Michigan Avenue art gallery and became really good friends and have just been leap-frogging our way through the art world here in Chicago,” Renfro said. “She really wanted to create a space here in Chicago to be another platform for artists. There are so many amazingly talented artists here in Chicago and they just need more space to show their work.”
The space is located in Bridgeport’s “hidden but thriving” art scene, boasting a panoramic view of the city’s skyline.
“It’s worth coming over to Bridgeport to support the local businesses and artists working out here,” Renfro said. “There’s also a really amazing food scene here, too. I feel like so many people don’t realize we’re here because we’re kind of hidden in this building. But once you come to our space, you almost can’t believe we’re in this building.”
For salonlb.’s latest feminist exhibit, Renfro and Brescia worked with art curators Susan Aurinko and Susan Blackman, who go by the moniker Curators Gone Rogue and describe themselves as “two think-outside-the-box, fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants Susans.”
Collaborating with Aurinko and Blackman was a “magical symbiosis” and the group worked really well together, Renfro said.
One of the exhibit’s “showstopping” pieces is a life-size golden sculpture of a woman’s body by Sara Salass, a Chicago- and DC-based Iranian American artist, Renfro said. Titled “4th Runner-Up: Self-Portrait as a Trophy Wife,” the piece adopts the style of a trophy to critique the idea of a “trophy wife,” the objectification of the female body and male discourses around female bodies.
It was the first piece salonlb. showcased in the gallery in fall 2019 — when the venue didn’t have power and was lit by candlelight, Renfro said.
“It’s a monumental sculpture where Sara casted her own body,” he said. “It’s shiny, it sparkles and it’s mounted on top of a pedestal, and it looks just like a trophy.”
Another exhibit highlight is an installation by Ginny Sykes, called “100 Women: Collaborations Beyond the Veil.” The project is made up of 100 photographs of women across 100 banners, 11 of which are featured at salonlb. The images highlight how women are often left out of history.
“They’re in togas, they have a hand over their heart, almost creating this very powerful moment of solidarity of how women have come together to battle inequality,” Renfro said. “The images depict women of all ages, races and backgrounds. It’s a very sublime moment.”
The project was launched in Chicago on the 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment, marked as August 26, 2020, to honor the hard-won legislation that ensures women the right to vote.
“The strength of each individual, multiplied by 100 in the process of banners, dares and inspires present viewers and generations of women to come to keep battling the various inequalities they still face—financially, politically, personally,” Sykes writes of her project online.
salonlb.’s next pop-up gallery is a vendor market in partnership with Rostrum312. It opens Friday, Oct. 13 with a masquerade-themed reception from 6-10 p.m. There will be more than 25 artists showing and selling their work, live music by Midtown Strings, living mannequins donning locally made fashion pieces, performance art and tarot and astrology readings. The first 300 guests in masquerade will receive “swag bags.”
Tickets for that gallery are available for $15-30 online, with options for drinks and early access.
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