Keith Mayerson on His American Dream, Queer Heroes, and the Power of Love in Painting

Hyperallergic's 'Beer With a Painter' series features a conversation with Los Angeles-based artist Keith Mayerson, known for his ongoing 'My American Dream' series of paintings begun after 9/11. The series draws from personal and found photography to depict a pantheon of heroes including Martin Luther King Jr., Superman, Marvin Gaye, and Kermit the Frog. Mayerson's work was featured in the 2014 Whitney Biennial at the Breuer building. He grew up near Denver, Colorado, and made his art-world debut with drawings at the Drawing Center in New York. He studied semiotics and studio art at Brown University and earned an MFA from UC Irvine. Mayerson currently lives in Riverside, California, and is a professor at the Roski School of Art and Architecture at USC. Two exhibitions are currently on view: '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. In the interview, Mayerson discusses early influences like comics, the Muppets, and Charles Schulz; his thesis show 'Pinocchio the Big Fag'; his abstract 'iconscapes'; and the importance of love and spirituality in his work. He also references his 'NeoIntegrity Manifesto' from 2007.