KEARNS, Jerry

Date

n.d.

Creator

KEARNS, JERRY
b. United States, 1966
Receiving his MFA from UC Santa Barbara in 1966, Jerry Kearns was born in Petersburg, Virginia in 1943 and creates large-scale whimsical and dark graphic paintings. Since the 1980’s Kearns has created “psychological pop” paintings, which have been exhibited in the United States and internationally, focusing on the impact of consumerism and mass media on people’s conceptions of themselves and reality. His artistry draws on his own experiences growing up in the United States and witnessing the blending of politics, entertainment, and truth in the media. He personally saw this transformation occur first-hand beginning with the Reagan administration. The subject matter is also based in personal tragedy, as his wife passed away in 2016 due to pancreatic cancer caused by the toxic air in New York City, an environmental crisis denied and covered up by the Bush administration. His sought-after pop art pieces juxtapose famous images and figures from Western iconography in violent scenes of conflict but without a clear victor. Sometimes humorous, sometimes morbid and often both, these acrylic on canvas artworks reflect the hypocrisies and absurdities that lie within the confusing landscape of American cultural politics and ideologies.

Citation

KEARNS, JERRY, b. United States, 1966, and Receiving his MFA from UC Santa Barbara in 1966, Jerry Kearns was born in Petersburg, Virginia in 1943 and creates large-scale whimsical and dark graphic paintings. Since the 1980’s Kearns has created “psychological pop” paintings, which have been exhibited in the United States and internationally, focusing on the impact of consumerism and mass media on people’s conceptions of themselves and reality. His artistry draws on his own experiences growing up in the United States and witnessing the blending of politics, entertainment, and truth in the media. He personally saw this transformation occur first-hand beginning with the Reagan administration. The subject matter is also based in personal tragedy, as his wife passed away in 2016 due to pancreatic cancer caused by the toxic air in New York City, an environmental crisis denied and covered up by the Bush administration. His sought-after pop art pieces juxtapose famous images and figures from Western iconography in violent scenes of conflict but without a clear victor. Sometimes humorous, sometimes morbid and often both, these acrylic on canvas artworks reflect the hypocrisies and absurdities that lie within the confusing landscape of American cultural politics and ideologies., “KEARNS, Jerry,” UCSB ADA Museum Omeka, accessed April 26, 2024, http://art-collections.museum.ucsb.edu/items/show/4682.