In the world of pop art, few names compare with Ron English. His decades of depictions have covered everything from politics to social injustices to food and been seen in books, movies, TV shows, and much more (including galleries around the globe).

As one of the leading voices in the pop art scene, English’s social commentary can be seen in everything from his Abraham Obama creation to his explanation of his McDonald’s art in 2004’s Super Size Me. He’s done album covers for Chris Brown, the Dandy Warhols and Slash, artwork for This is the End (as well as several other movies) and he’s even appeared on an episode of the Simpsons. (That’s how you really know you’ve made it.)

Myspace caught up with the Dallas native shortly before the opening of his latest exhibition—NeoNature—at the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles (it closes on January 9, so go soon!) to talk about life as an artist in 2016. Check out the convo and some shots from the NeoNature opening below.

You do all different styles of pop art, but they’re all clearly yours. How did you develop them?

Originally, I was a part of a photography movement and I hated pop art. Then I thought to myself “Well, if you hate it that much, why don’t you be a pop artist?” I spent about eight years doing a kind of gimmicky overlay style of art. Then my studio burnt down and I lost all of that. It was kind of liberating not to have a style from then on. The first time I did it was in the ‘70s in a design class. I had to develop packaging for a product, and when I took it to the stores around where I was living, I realized that art didn’t just have to be in a gallery. It could be anywhere.

Over the years, you’ve become one of the biggest names in pop art. What’s it been like to see your career and fame grow almost to a celebrity status?

It’s like having a kid. If you see it every day, you’re not going to realize it’s growing. I went to the Philippines once, and we went to this huge party. I got really drunk, and on the way home, the family I was with had to have armored cars to drive through the bad neighborhoods. I saw some kids doing graffiti, so I asked them to stop the car. They kept telling me it wasn’t a good idea, but I got out and yelled at the kids to stop. At first, they were angry and they were just yelling back at me, but then they saw me and they’re like “Hey, you’re Ron English!” They all brought their sketchbooks to me while everyone else sat in the armored car just wanting to leave.

How have you seen the art world change in the time you’ve been a professional artist?

I think the core of the art-collecting world isn’t that different. It’s still a billionaires club. The pool of people who are willing to spend over $100,000 on a piece of art are still the same, but everything else has changed. Pop-up shows are the cool thing to do now instead of having a gallery, but for a long time a pop-up show just meant you couldn’t get your work into a gallery.

Technology has really changed things too. I have a friend who does giant land portraits with the photos taken from a satellite. He puts them up on Instagram, and people just scroll through it like “Cool, what’s next?” Some of it sticks and some of it doesn’t.

What’s one thing you’d like to do in the future that you haven’t been able to accomplish yet?

I’ve been struggling to get a cartoon off the ground for a while now. I’ve gotten pretty far in Hollywood and then it all falls apart, but that’s the same way with everything. It’s really hard to get galleries open, but at some point someone lets you do one and you just have to make sure that everyone who passed on you is going to wish they were the one who said yes. I think it’s the same thing with this cartoon, eventually someone will give it a chance.

It seems like a great idea to me, because I always have so many ideas and paintings are so laborious and take so long to complete. I want to have something that sucks all the ideas out of me and makes me struggle to keep up with it. Also, I think you can get away with way more politically in a cartoon than anywhere else. The Simpsons have gotten away with way more than any protest recently.