Doug McElroy Prepares '13 Generations of the US Flag' for 2026 Completion

Key facts

• Doug McElroy, also known as Dogu, is completing a series titled "13 Generations of the US Flag" consisting of exactly thirteen paintings and mixed media works.
• Every work in the series measures 26 by 48 inches, and subjects range from politics, unity, and abundance to alienation and school shootings.
• McElroy plans to complete the entire collection during 2026 and then seek venues to present the thirteen works together.
• He studied economics and psychology in college, skipped his senior undergraduate year to enter graduate business school at the University of Chicago, and later became a divisional CFO for an auto parts manufacturer.
• Painting disappeared from his active routine for almost two decades while he worked in finance, married, and raised children; he returned to it after retiring and enrolled in several painting classes.
• He does not hold a fine arts degree and describes his continuing education as broadening his vocabulary within a complex graphic language.
• Landscape is his primary visual territory; he photographs places during travel and uses the images as studio references that he alters rather than reproduces exactly.
• He cites René Magritte for inventiveness and Edward Hopper for narrative power through shadows as key influences.
• Human figures are intentionally rare in his landscapes, which he leaves open to what could happen next.
• He shares a studio at the Historic Scarab Club in Detroit's Cultural Center, a building constructed in 1928 as a private club for artists.
• His direct ancestry includes an eighth great-grandfather born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1674.
• The number thirteen in the series title links the thirteen original American colonies with the thirteen generations represented in his family history.