Image: The Mayor Gallery, London
The Mayor Gallery in London is showing 'Happy Birthday America!', a group exhibition that marks the 250th anniversary of American independence and runs from 4 June to 31 July 2026. The presentation brings together works by a wide range of artists associated with post-war and contemporary American art, including Billy Apple, Billy Al Bengston, Bruce Conner, Joseph Cornell, Roy Ferdinand, Joe Goode, Robert Graham, Wally Hedrick, George Herms, Edward & Nancy Kienholz, Robert Mallary, Ed Paschke, Ken Price, Kurt Seligmann, Julian Stanczak, Richard Stankiewicz, Paul Thek, John Tweddle, Robert Watts and Tom Wesselmann.
According to the gallery, the exhibition is intended as a focused reflection on the vitality and diversity of American art after 1945. Its selection spans assemblage, Pop, conceptual and figurative practices, placing artists from different generations and regions into a single display. The works listed on the exhibition page range from the early 1950s through the 2000s, with media including neon and bronze, xerography and paint on linen, mixed media assemblage, oil on canvas, acrylic on panel, and mixed metal assemblage.
The inclusion of Billy Apple’s 'A for Apple' from 1962-63 and 'The Presidential Suite: Johnson & Humphrey at L.B.J. Barbecue' from 1964 sets a tone of graphic directness and political wit. Tom Wesselmann’s 'Great American Nude n. 27' from 1962 appears alongside Bruce Conner’s 'Untitled, October 6 1958' and Joseph Cornell’s 1954 box construction, underscoring the exhibition’s movement across both iconic Pop imagery and earlier forms of assemblage. Other works on view include Joe Goode’s 'Untitled' from around 1971, Robert Watts’s 'BLT' from 1965, and Ed Paschke’s 'Tragique' from 1980.
The show also brings in artists whose practices widened the definition of American art in the post-war era. George Herms is represented by 'Song for Hope' from around 1986, while Edward & Nancy Kienholz appear with 'The Wholly Holly Terror' from 1986 and Robert Mallary with 'Fugitive / The Gunfighter' from 1961. The gallery’s list further includes Ken Price’s 'Purple Egg' from the 1960s, Richard Stankiewicz’s 'Double-Face (1961-14)' from 1961, and Paul Thek’s pencil drawing 'Untitled (Paul painting)' dated October 1970.
The exhibition also incorporates artists active across different modes of abstraction and figuration, such as Julian Stanczak, represented by 'Central Meeting' from 2008, and Roy Ferdinand, whose 'Untitled' from 1996 is included in the display. John Tweddle appears in the exhibition itself and in a separate gallery newsletter item tied to 'Market Day', a forthcoming September show pairing his paintings with Michael Landy’s sculpture; the gallery’s current American survey, however, is the main focus here. The exhibition page likewise lists Kurt Seligmann’s 'Pierrot Seated' from 1961, suggesting that the presentation is not limited to a single style or decade.
'Happy Birthday America!' is presented at The Mayor Gallery, 9 Bury Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6AB. The gallery’s website describes it as a current exhibition, and the works page identifies the show as a broad survey of American post-war and contemporary art movements, concluding on 31 July 2026.
