“American Dream #4 – View 2 On A Lot Monterey Park”
acrylic latex, pencil, colored pencil, glass beads, photocopies on sailcloth
40.5” x 50.5”
5.19.1999

 

This is one of my top five favorite pieces I’ve ever created. Everything came together for me on this one – the outline of the two houses, the pencil marks, the lettering, the drips, the bold and generous paint strokes, the blue sky… and it’s handwritten title, now faded – “American Dream #4”

This painting was part of The American Dream Series, which I was deep into at this point in the late 90s. This series was about several things. One was the way photos in classifieds ads had caught my visual imagination, but the second was the idea of the Great American Dream… having your own home, your own castle – building your own life in the land of freedom.

I had heard of the American Dream since I was a child and this was a very Pop Art response to a lifetime of hearing about the immigrant’s dream, which is a big part of the American Dream.

We still own this piece, it’s a keeper!