CAMERON WELCH EXPO CHICAGO BOOTH 341
APRIL 11 – 14, 2024
For Expo Chicago 2024, Cameron Welch will present a series of new mosaics incorporating marble, glass, ceramic, stone, spray enamel, oil, and acrylic paint. In the mosaics, Welch layers abstract painting, Western and African art history, Greco-Roman mythology, and pop imagery to create carnivalesque, congested compositions. In addition to art historical considerations, Welch explores his own biracial identity and experience of contemporary American city topographies in his mosaics. For his Chicago presentation, Welch focuses on the myths of Theseus, water deities, the lotus-eaters, and ancient Greek symposia. Imagery of pots and other adornments are reverse printed on glass, and various materials both precious and pedestrian add color and energy to his surfaces. Despite mosaic art’s global heritage, Welch observes a lack of recognition for its significance within African art history and culture by Western institutions. Through his work, he addresses this oversight and the underlying power dynamics contributing to it.
Cameron Welch (b. 1990, Indianapolis, IN, US; lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, US) graduated with an MFA from Columbia University, New York in 2016. His recent solo exhibitions include REVELRY at Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles (2023); RUINS at Yossi Milo Gallery, New York (2022); Figurative Summer at Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco (2020); Monolith at Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles (2019); RETROGRADE at Rental Gallery, East Hampton (2018); Hide and Seek at yours, mine, and ours, New York (2017). His work is included in the collection of The Museum of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design. Welch lives and works in New York.