About the Exhibition
Oceana is Jerry Johnson’s first public mural. Johnson pays homage to the colorful and idealistic world depicted in American billboard art, a world filled with toothy gas-station attendants, kissing flamingos, a slice of cherry pie, and the wide-open desert. According to Johnson, Oceana’s brilliant display of colors and seemingly contradictory images are a subtle reminder of “promises that couldn’t be kept.” Johnson and his assistant outlined and painted the work in approximately twenty-five working days. He believes the work will become “more mysterious” as it ages and fades. “Part of my attraction to billboard art,” Johnson stated, “involves the passing of images—how they fade from popularity in the public’s eye.”