ARTIST STATEMENT

“I grew up in a racially mixed town right outside of New York City. In addition to the locals, we had kids from all over the world whose parents worked at the United Nations. With few exceptions we all got along great. My high school girlfriend was a real African princess from Upper Volta. I had dreams of becoming a Jewish African-American King.

A decade or so later I hit my mother with the Jewish dilemma. My new girlfriend was doctor, but also black. Oye Vey. I know that for many artists “black and white” elicits images of tension and of past social inequities. For me black and white has always meant warmth. I hope these paintings project the feelings I have for some of those people that have made me feel loved.”
Ted Meyer

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Ted won his first art show at age 6 after copying a flamingo that one of the older kids drew. The guilt of this image appropriation has followed him ever since.

Ted started painting for real in 1987 when a friend gave him some paint for Christmas with a card that read, “You keep saying you are an artist, paint!” Seven months later Ted sold 8 of the 11 paintings exhibited in his first show. Since that first show Ted’s work has been displayed in museums on 3 continents.

Much of Ted’s work has been influenced by his dealings with the health care system and his own health problems. Born with Gaucher’s disease, often his earlier works depict contorted, pained and highly designed skeletal images. This series titled “Structural Abnormalities” was initially created in the months before his first round of hip replacements.

In recent years with the advent of new treatments and additional joint replacements Ted considers himself normal and healthy. His work has shifted from “Ted-centric” to images that highlight other people’s health problems. His “Scarred for Life, Monoprints of Human Scars” series chronicles those events that suddenly changed people’s lives.

Ted concurrently works on the “Insights on Co-Dependency” series of stylized and brightly colored multi-figure oil paintings and his “Awkward Children” series depicting children in hapless situations.

Ted is also a freelance designer, writer and illustrator. He has written and illustrated 4 books. “Shrink Yourself: The Complete do-it-Yourself Book of Freudian Psychoanalysis”, “The Butt Hello – And Other Reasons My Cats Drive Me Crazy”, “Cats Around the World.” and “Good Things You Can Learn from A Bad Relationship”.

Ted has held teaching positions at Brooks College in Long Beach, CA and California State University at Northridge.

Ted is a contributing writer for Coagula Contemporary Art.