The Riverside Arts Center, 32 E. Quincy St. in Riverside, presents “Living Large,” an exhibition of new paintings by Maria Vergara through Feb. 25 in the center’s Freeark Contemporary Art Gallery.
The paintings in “Living Large” explore Vergara’s themes of decadent materialism and excess. The luxurious interiors and their Baroque style attempt to overwhelm viewers and confront them with depictions of excessive wealth and social status that elicit conflicting emotions, such as desire and revulsion.
The new paintings are an extension of Vergara’s earlier work, which focused on celebrity culture and decadence.
A resident of Oak Park, Vergara is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she received a master’s degree in 2009.
The Freeark Gallery is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m.
