40 North and the Blind Pig Brewery are thrilled to announce the winner of the featured label image for the inaugural Pig Daze beer release! After evaluating 120+ outstanding submissions, a local jury selected Sophie McMahan’s Babliens to be featured on the label of the inaugural Pig Daze release. Sophie’s image will be featured on the label for the new Pig Daze Imperial Stout to be released at the 1st Annual Pig Daze beer fest on June 23rd from 11am to 11pm in the parking lot just North of Point Fencing Club on Walnut (behind the Blind Pig warehouse brewery). Pig Daze will be a celebration of summer, beer, and local art including games, live screen-printing, food trucks, bubbles, photo booths, and much much more! 
“We will select a local artist to feature on our bottles for the Pig Daze release each year. As the years go by it will be fun to accumulate a collection of these bottles and see the vastly different and talented artists that live and work right here in our community. They will almost be like local art trading cards!” – Chris Knight
Sophie McMahan is fascinated by American culture from the 1950’s and 1960’s, and draws inspiration from family portraits, pin-up magazines, romance comics, and a range of other publications – specifically the advertisements – from this time period. Photographs from this era generally present images of prosperity, wholesomeness, and order, with clean-cut people usually bearing exaggerated, almost absurd grins. Yet these images of assuredness do not reflect what life was like for most people; this was a period of American history marked by unhappiness, repression and a crippling pressure to succeed. Because of this discrepancy, Sophie felt an urge to pervert these images, hinting at the far less than perfect reality of what those times were like for most. In addition to subtle distortions in the figures themselves, she often inserts unexpected, strange objects into scenes that are associated with affluence and happiness. To see more of her work, visit sophiemcmahan.com.
“Thanks so much to the Blind Pig – I am very honored to have been chosen! I’m excited to try the new brew with the company of some space babes!” – Sophie McMahan
40 North | 88 West 40 North | 88 West – Champaign County Arts Council – is committed to cultivating creativity in Champaign County. Through advocacy, information and collaboration, 40 North supports and promotes the important role that arts, culture and education hold in making the community a great place to live, work, learn and play. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. For more, visit www.40north.org.
To Contact 40 North For additional information or to arrange interviews, contact Kelly White, 40 North Executive Director, at kwhite@40north.org or 217-351-9841.
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