LOS ANGELES — Engaging with Keith Mayerson is an intense experience, as he seamlessly weaves references to athletes, the Beach Boys, Roland Barthes, and Paul Cézanne into his discussions. This Los Angeles-based artist is renowned for his evolving series of paintings titled My American Dream, which are often displayed in ‘chapters’ and draw from both personal and found photographs. Initiated in the wake of 9/11, this collection showcases a diverse personal pantheon of heroic figures.
His work was notably featured at the 2014 Whitney Biennial with a striking salon-style corner installation at the Breuer building. Among the figures depicted were Martin Luther King Jr., Sitting Bull, Superman, Marvin Gaye, James Dean, Annie Oakley, Kermit the Frog, and Tintin, complete with the iconic Castafiore emerald. The installation also contained a few abstractions, cityscapes of New York and Los Angeles, a view of Earth from space, and a double portrait of Mayerson and his husband. The piece ‘My Family’ (2013) portrayed his childhood family under a patterned bedspread, symbolizing the intertwined networks of family and community.
Originally from near Denver, Colorado, Mayerson began his art career with works from his thesis show that were featured in a group exhibition at the Drawing Center in New York. His art, which referenced comics and children’s book illustrations, laid the foundation for his future endeavors. He further explored themes with a queer Hamlet narrative at Derek Eller Gallery. Mayerson resided in New York from the mid-1990s until 2016 before relocating permanently to Southern California.
Mayerson is celebrated for his vibrant depictions of American identity, activist history, and popular culture, characterized by his dynamic painting style. His work features swirling, repetitive brushstrokes that convey energy and emotion, counterbalancing the photographic elements he incorporates and his characteristic acid-yellow underpainting. His art captures both an aspirational present and a nostalgic, utopian past.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1966, Mayerson earned a BA from Brown University and an MFA from the University of California, Irvine. Currently residing in Riverside, California, he teaches at the Roski School of Art and Design at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Two of his exhibitions are presently on display: Keith Mayerson: My American Dream (Rocky Mountain High) at the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado and My American Dream: Capturing a Glimpse of Lee & Jackson, Elaine & Bill and Their Circle at the Pollock-Krasner House in East Hampton, New York.
