San Francisco-based artist Ana Teresa Fernández has opened a solo exhibition titled 'Under Pressure' at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. The four-year project features a range of works, including detailed oil paintings and a sculptural piece, all centered on the theme of water and climate change. A key performance element involved Fernández leading hundreds of participants on Chicago's lakefront to form a giant S.O.S. signal using mirrors, a 'social monument' she previously staged in California.
The exhibition serves as a direct call to action on the climate crisis, using visceral imagery like a stretched white balloon to symbolize a planet under strain. Fernández connects environmental degradation to cultural loss, noting the predicted extinction of thousands of languages. By moving her art from the museum walls to a public beach, she leverages community participation to amplify a message of desperation and hope, framing the climate emergency as a universal plea to 'save our souls, shorelines, and species.'