Weeds Tavern

Poster Art by Sergio Mayora

Dave Hoekstra author Sergio Mayora illustrator

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Trope Publishing Co.

Published:25th Jan '24

Should be back in stock very soon

Weeds Tavern cover

  • Pitch for local Chicago media coverage, including Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader, WGN Radio, Chicago Tonight
  • Pitch for podcast interviews, targeting art and latino-interest shows
  • Local bookstore appearances (Chicago, IL)
  • Promotion on social media, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
  • E-newsletter promotion
  • Chicago launch event on publication

Before the days of social media and the internet, Weeds Tavern’s host and bartender Sergio Mayora attracted a loyal, diverse, and eclectic crowd to the bar with his unique and vibrant collage poster art promoting the tavern. 

These advertisements were singular cut-and-paste works of art. From 1988’s “Weed’s Pollution Night” to 2004’s poetry night “Making America Safe in the War Against Censorship,” many of Mayora’s posters predicted the world we are living in today. 

Echoing the bright colors and catchy phrases of Mayora’s poster art, Weeds Tavern: Poster Art by Sergio Mayora collects over 40 of these iconic posters that once adorned the phone booths and streetlamps of Chicago’s streets. Featuring text by celebrated Chicago journalist Dave Hoekstra and a foreword by award-winning actor and Weeds patron Michael Shannon, this book is sure to delight both those who frequented Weeds and those who wish they could have been part of the magic. 

“[Sergio's] posters were very interesting. It’s easy to make a collage but it’s hard to make a good collage. The posters are very vibrant. He creates this fantastical world that uses geometric shapes and primordial figures that are sometimes reminiscent of Chichen Itza. The shapes and compositions manage to meld the ancient world with the futuristic cosmic. His work captures my imagination.” -- Marla Donato, adjunct professor, Columbia College 

"[The] book contains more than 40 posters that Mayora designed and created over the years. They are playful, striking, humorous and philosophical, forming a gallery of inventive, compelling and thought-provoking collages." -- Chicago Tribune

“That first time in Weeds, the thing that made the biggest impression on me besides the Mexican Sasquatch behind the bar was the posters.” -- Michael Shannon

ISBN: 9781951963194

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

96 pages