New Book Shines Light On Chicago Original
WDCB’s Gary Zidek sits down with artist/retired bartender Sergio Mayora to talk about the new book that celebrates the poster art he created to promote a Lincoln Park bar.
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A new hardcover book is putting a spotlight on a small slice of Chicago nightlife and outsider art history. Just a few blocks from Steppenwolf Theatre, hidden off the beaten path of Lincoln Park’s many restaurants and retail outlets sits Weeds Tavern. Today it’s more of a sports-craft beer type of spot. But for a period between the mid-80’s and early 2010’s it was a true melting pot. Weeds hosted weekly poetry and jazz nights. Underwear hung from the ceiling, incense was likely burning and people from all over would drink together. The man at the center of it all was Sergio Mayora.
The bartender/artist was the ringmaster for the nightly party that took place at Weeds. As the neighborhood around North Avenue and Halsted changed, Mayora took it upon himself to try and bring customers in. So, he started making collage posters to promote the tavern. And they worked, new clientele started coming and people started taking interest in Mayora’s vibrant and sometimes brash posters.
Fast forward several years, Chicago-based Trope has published WEEDS TAVERN: POSTER ART BY SERGIO MAYORA. The 96-page hardcover book features images of over 40 of Mayora’s posters, text by celebrated Chicago journalist Dave Hoekstra and a forward written by Academy Award-nominated actor Michael Shannon.
“There was no business here for a while, for a lot of reasons, and since we had no money for advertising, so gotta do something. When I would go to the Old Town Ale House, I would see posters up there, people advertising plays and whatever, so I did a poster, what I thought was a poster, to advertise the bar, and that started that and that’s how started making the posters”. - Sergio Mayora talking about why he first started making posters in the late 80s.
A look inside the new book.
WEEDS TAVERN: POSTER ART BY SERGIO MAYORA is out now. You can find more info about it at trope.com
Sergio Mayora showing off his vintage Weeds Tavern t-shirt
