Renowned artist transcends “the table” to lead the conversation on art-making and connection.
Catalina Museum for Art & History presents the exhibition Ann Weber: 26 Miles, on view through Aug. 4. This remarkable collection brings to life the voyage of Ann Weber’s totemic sculptures as they journey across the San Pedro Channel, weaving together an intricate narrative.
Renowned for her avant-garde approach, Ann Weber repurposes cardboard to craft monumental sculptures, which serve as metaphors for larger psychological and emotional inquiries and breathe a second life into reclaimed packaging. While Ann’s use of discarded materials serves as a commentary on contemporary consumerist culture, her works also act as explorations into the delicate interplay between memory and nostalgia, the vulnerability and resilience of nature, and, ultimately, the multifaceted aspects of the human spirit.
Dr. Sheila Bergman, executive director of Catalina Museum for Art & History, told Random Lengths News with this exhibition the museum is seeing its visitors respond to artistic innovation and Ann’s unconventional use of materials, including interesting innovative sculptural techniques, making her work a standout to visitors.
Ann’s work also aligns with the museum’s commitment to showcasing groundbreaking contemporary art. Bergman said because many people come in assuming, even though it’s the Catalina Museum for Art and History, many expect to find more of a leaning toward the historical. When they see Ann’s work, she noted, they’re really interested in it. She finds them discussing both the sculptures and the museum.
“The relevance to the local community is important for the shows that we do and in this particular case, it’s Ann’s status as a prominent artist and [being] based in Los Angeles. She’s local,” Bergman said. It resonates with the local community and it offers a unique opportunity for residents and visitors to engage with a renowned artist’s work.”
Bergman said Catalina is known as a place where for years, generations have come and have been creative.
“To have somebody that is so well known and so accomplished like Ann resonates with our community and they appreciate it.”
So how did an LA-based artist connect with the famed island 26 miles due southwest? This is another skill that Ann possesses, connecting with everyone from people in the community to art galleries, on social media, curators, public relations, boards and organizations. Ann communicates passionately. She explained how the exhibition came together.
“The curator, Johnny Sampson, made an appointment to come over and there’s a nice connection, Ann recounted.
She met him in the Bay Area just before she relocated to San Pedro, at big studio sale she held. Hearing that he was a curator at the Catalina Museum, Aa put him on her mailing list and started sending him her quarterly newsletters and postcards. After a few years she “suddenly” got an email that said ‘I’d like to talk to you about doing a show at Catalina Island, this is Johnny Sampson.’
“It was really thrilling to me and also a great reminder to artists to keep people on your mailing list. You never know when success is going to happen.”
Sampson came to Ann’s studio at Angel’s Gate and also to her two-car garage which she uses as storage for her sculptures, “because who in Los Angeles uses a garage for a car with valuable real estate?” Ann quipped. The two of them collaborated to put together a cohesive body of work that “told a story and filled the space in a good way.” The exhibition features six standing pieces, one wall piece and one hanging piece and they selected the artwork together.
26 Miles also features a beautifully made video titled, Ann Weber in Rome (2012) filmed by a then-21-year-old visitor to the American Academy in Rome. He (newyorknico) was visiting his parents who brought him to the studio where Ann was working. He had been filming rappers in New York City and he asked Ann if she’d be interested in him doing a video of her so he could branch out.
“It gives people an idea of what my process was and anybody can download it. It’s showing me going through the trash cans in Rome [looking for cardboard pieces] digging in, and then, also making a piece … It was like two days of filming to edit it down to four minutes.”
Regarding the video, Bergman noted Avalon has a population of approximately 4,500, but approximately one million people visit the island annually. In consideration of this and Avalon’s school system, the museum is committed to making sure that its exhibitions and our programs have an educational value.
“What we like about Ann’s sculptures is that they invite the viewers, our local community, and the students to contemplate the intersection of art and everyday life,” Bergman said.
Indeed, she’s seen how Ann’s work has sparked conversations between students at the museum about creativity, materiality, and artistic practice.
“When I hear that kind of exchange with our visitors … we take great pride that our exhibitions also have the component [of] educational value.”
Just before opening weekend, the Catalina Museum offered a special invitation to patrons to come in early and meet the artist, where Ann had a Q&A with the curator and she also did a demonstration on how she creates her sculptures.
“It ended up being great,” Ann said. “Usually at openings …once you see the show and greet your friends you’re not quite sure what to do next. So, I felt that it was smart of the museum because people like to learn things and they like to be entertained. It was a good experience for guests to learn how I make my work.”
Ann’s newest piece, Oh What Fools We Mortals Be (2023) is in the show, comprising two “big braided” forms that came from one piece of 4’x 8’ cardboard that Ann rounded the corners on.
“I’m very interested in making. simple, simple forms that have multiple meanings,” Ann said. “So somebody can [see] a surfboard stuck in the sand, somebody can [see] a tombstone …[or] a giant cactus, which is all fine. There are two of them and they’re relating to each other and the title is almost like ‘You’re the fool. Oh, no, you’re the fool.’
“It’s a little bit of a commentary on how foolish everyone is acting these days. I don’t want my work to have a political overtone, but neither do I want to ignore everything that’s going on in the world. Sometimes I’ll just have a little hint of something that’s going on in the world as a possible clue to what this sculpture might be saying.”
When Ann gives talks, she shares a lot of her background.
“So much of my work is personal, or else they’re metaphors for my life experiences, such as the balancing acts that we all have in our lives; how high can you make something? How wide can you make something before it tips over? That says a lot about the balancing acts in our lives of how we’re trying to make art, to support ourselves and make a living, or trying to raise children, some of us, and also be in a relationship. A lot of my artwork is about describing how to do that or how it happens. And of course, the result is that I make sculpture.”
These subjects are what Ann discussed during her talk. She surmised people would much rather hear the story behind the work rather than how she made it or why she made it if it’s not related to something more tangible and other people’s lives. Ann will give another talk on July 27, with an outdoor slideshow. Ann encourages people to go to the island for a weekend and stop in and listen to her talk and to see the show. The artist noted the museum is devoted to the history of Catalina and its early indigenous people. She said the museum is in the process of reappropriating some of its collection back to the island’s indigenous tribes. There’s a lot of history. In one example Ann shared, messenger pigeons were trained and used on the island to send messages back and forth between the military base in San Pedro and the island.
“There were photographs of the pigeons [at the museum] and their little teeny, tiny carriers on their legs,” Ann said. “I’ve been there many times and I’ve felt very connected to it. The island tells its own stories in the same way that I tell my personal stories through my artwork. I connect to the island, in [that] way.
For example, she noted there are several pieces in the show. Two of those, French Kiss and Personages Invitation, came from a series of sculptures that Ann did to commemorate all the people who have helped her in her life.
“Particularly when I went through a period of obstacles,” she said. “But also it continues. I like to make sculptures that look sort of figurative but also abstract. But you can still tell that they have a very strong relationship with each other. I like to leave it open-ended so that people can think about their own relationships and how important the people that we surround ourselves with are to us.”
When she speaks personally, Ann said, she’s always taken by how people come up to her afterward and start sharing their own stories.
Bergman concurred, saying Ann is skilled at connecting with people, talking about her artwork, and really bringing them in.
“It’s very inspiring because I know so many elder stateswomen artists [who] worked so many years ago and hardly ever had a voice out there. They kept the practice going. They never gave up. They’re still working now … in their 70s 80s 90s, and they still struggle to get through the system to … be at the table. It’s great to see that Ann is not only at the table but is actually leading the conversation about art making and community.”
“That’s [sharing] my whole point,” Ann said. “My artwork is so much about people and relationships because that’s who I am. I love connecting people. I love people and I love dinner parties.”
Go to Catalina Island to see this show. But if you can’t, Ann noted you may come to Open Studios at Angel’s Gate Cultural Center, April 27, to see her work and the work of 50 other studio artists.
Time: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday, and artist talk, 7:30 p.m. July 27
Cost: $0 to $18
Details: 310-510-2414; CatalinaMuseum.org and www.annwebersculpture.com
Venue: 217 Metropole Ave., in the heart of Avalon