ROUTE 66 | Paintings by Mary Anne Erickson: EXHIBITION PROPOSAL

Mary Anne Erickson is fascinated with the slow decline of American culture and paints portraits of what America used to be with tromp l'oeil precision and an unironic eye.  The quiet rust of signs, the peeling of paint and plaster from whimiscal statuary and the long, lonely road that unites these relics are described with nostalgia and patience. By capturing these iconic hotels, restaurants and other tokens of the past, Mary Anne Erickson seeks to slow down time and preserve a memory of post-World War II American optimism and the early enthusiasm of car culture. 

A graduate of the Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, CA), Mary Anne Erickson is a landscape painter, artist, photographer and author. For 20 years, Erickson worked as a graphic designer for major publications including The New York Times and New York Magazine, publishing houses and record companies and her love of visual storytelling is ever present in her work. She has long been fascinated by scenes of the vanishing American roadside and the imaginary stories of unknown people and places.  An overview of Mary Anne's career and portfolio can be viewed at www.maryanneerickson.com.