In conjunction with Inside/Outside, an exhibit of recent acquisitions, Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) will host Keith Mayerson for a conversation with James Glisson, SBMA curator of contemporary art, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18 in Mary Craig Auditorium, 1130 State St.

Painting by Keith Mayerson of iconic green frog muppet Kermit riding a yellow bicycle with a basket in front. The aartwork is called 's 'Someday we'll find it, the Rainbow Connection, the lovers, the dreamers and me,' 2023; oil on linen.
Keith Mayerson’s ‘Someday we’ll find it, the Rainbow Connection, the lovers, the dreamers and me,’ 2023. Oil on linen. Credit: Keith Mayerson

Mayerson has long been immersed in the mass media, reframing the images he sees by painting them, and SBMA recently acquired his painting, “Someday we’ll find it, the Rainbow Connection, the lovers, the dreamers, and me” (2023).

Whether now-iconic photographs of the Stonewall Riots in the summer of 1969, a view of the Grand Canyon, the crenellated skyline of Manhattan, or the Muppets, Mayerson takes subjects we already know — or think we know — then personalizes them. He filters them through his choice of color and mark, highlight and shadow.

Viewers see the pictures through Mayerson’s eyes and in so doing see them anew.

This idea of rebirth or revisioning is central to Mayerson’s series “My American Dream,” from which a dream of justice and equality, of a pluralistic society, of hope and promise.

Mayerson’s paintings, drawings, and graphic novels have been shown in dozens of solo exhibitions at such locations as Karma Gallery, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland; and Marlborough Contemporary, New York, and his work was included in the 2014 Whitney Biennial and the Whitney Museum’s inaugural downtown show, America is Hard to See (2015).

Cost to attend the talk is $5 for SBMA members; $10, non-nembers; free for students.
Get tickets at tickets.sbma.net.