Eight large scale oil paintings by David Mellen, Heart Worn Thin, will be on view at Ivy Brown Gallery from November 16-December 31. A catalog of his work with an essay by Nina Mdivani will be available during the exhibition. ‘David Mellen’s work is not easily defined, vacillating between human flesh and its metaphoric representation, they beg you to look deeper, consider their physical properties. Mellen uses techniques he has mastered over time to create a body of work that explores ideas of boundary, spatial positioning, self and its limits.’ – Nina Mdivani
David Mellen
“When I start a new painting, it’s as if I’ve forgotten how to paint. I mean, once a painting is finished, that final image is so separate from the painting’s beginning, which is buried in this history of false starts and mistakes, that I’ve forgotten how I went about it. For me, a finished painting is an accumulation of many small decisions which eventually add up to form a final image, but when starting something new, there is no history…there is nothing but a feeling and an idea. There’s a line in Becket’s Endgame ‘There’s something dripping in my head… A heart, a heart in my head.’ That’s how painting feels to me, slowly accumulating drop by drop.”
For more information on the artist and gallery please visit The Ivy Brown Gallery.
As If – David Mellen
