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David Mellen Art

American, b. 1970
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next five years, he exhibited work in Paris, Brussels and London while working at studios in Germany and Brussels. After returning to the states and living for a time on the west coast, he moved across the country and now lives with his family in Connecticut and exhibits in New York. “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.”
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Minimal, Charcoal Drawing: 'Voices II'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next fi...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Wood, Charcoal, Handmade Paper

Abstract Oil Painting: 'The Bell'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Abstract oil painting: 'Descent'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next fi...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Abstract pigment on canvas painting: 'Chimera'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next fiv...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Canvas, Pigment

Diptych; two panels each 70 x 42 in: 'Swansong'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next fiv...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Oil on Linen: 'Blue Heart ll'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Oil on linen: 'Hyena'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Oil, Linen

Diptych, Oil on Linen: 'Némésis'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen's work is not easily defined, vacillating between human flesh and metaphoric representation, the paintings beg you to look deeper and to consider their physical properties. Duchamp, de Kooning, Bacon, Giacometti, Rothko are all direct influences for Mellen, yet he can not be strictly categorized as a representational or an abstract artist. Mellen paints forms reminiscent of human bodies, building them one day at a time for the duration of several months. An endless process of addition and subtraction is at work as the loosely defined figures emerge in sharp contrast with precisely executed geometric backgrounds of neutral colors. The juxtaposition between exposed canvas, well-defined geometric background and a form as the subject of the painting is a motif that has followed Mellen’s work through the years. The entities in Mellen’s work reference actions rather than concrete characters. For example, in Descent (2020) a fall from grace...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Large Abstract Painting: 'Fragment'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Oil on Linen: 'In Birdshadow (Diptyh)'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Painting Abstract: 'Bloom'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next fi...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Oil on Linen: 'Coil:Uncoil'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Triptych Oil on linen: 'Elephant'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen has proceeded to work according to his own design. He sees art as a medium of discovery rather than a display of untrammeled emotion. This has very little to do with a ...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Oil on Linen: 'In Birdshadow (Left)
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Oil on Linen: 'In Birdshadow (Right)'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Abstract Pigment Painting on Canvas: 'The Rhythm, The Blood'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Oil on Linen: 'Death by Water'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Oil Painting on Linen: 'Taime'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Oil, Linen

Charcoal Minimal Abstract Drawing: 'Voices III'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next fi...
Category

2010s Abstract David Mellen Art

Materials

Wood, Charcoal, Handmade Paper

Oil on Linen: 'Seaside'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time ...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Oil Painting: 'Blind'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Abstract Oil on Linen Canvas: 'Corrida'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Oil on Linen Abstract Painting: 'As If'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next fi...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Abstract pigment on canvas Painting; "Like Butterflies'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next fi...
Category

2010s Abstract David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Varnish, Pigment

Oil on Linen: "Inverse"
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

Red & White Abstract, Nature based Wall Sculpture: 'Red Lies Body'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next fi...
Category

2010s Abstract David Mellen Art

Materials

Metal

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Previously Available Items
Oil on Linen: 'Blue Heart'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

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Linen, Oil

Minimal, Charcoal Drawing: 'Voices'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1970. He attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in that city until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next five years...
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2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

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Wood, Charcoal, Handmade Paper

Oil on Linen Abstract Triptych Painting: 'Ostend'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next fi...
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2010s Abstract David Mellen Art

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Linen, Oil

Abstract Pigment Painting on Canvas: 'Ohne'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next fi...
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2010s Abstract David Mellen Art

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Linen, Varnish, Pigment

Abstract Pigment Painting on Linen: 'In Landscape'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen (b. 1970, Chicago, IL, USA) attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in his hometown of Chicago until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next fi...
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2010s Abstract David Mellen Art

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Large Pigment on Canvas Diptych: 'Still Stand'
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Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time ...
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2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

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Linen, Varnish, Pigment

Abstract Pigment Painting on Canvas: 'The Offing'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David Mellen’s paintings orchestrate a complexity derived both from an intricate style and equally complex notion of painting’s ability to cross boundaries and conception in a time o...
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2010s Contemporary David Mellen Art

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Abstract Diptych Pigment Painting on Canvas: We Belong to Nowhere
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1970. He attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in that city until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next five years...
Category

2010s Abstract David Mellen Art

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Linen, Oil

Large Diptych Pigment Painting on Canvas: 'The Loss of So Many'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1970. He attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in that city until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next five years...
Category

2010s Abstract David Mellen Art

Materials

Linen, Varnish, Pigment

Wood Panel large Abstract Pigment Painting: 'Negation'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
David was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1970. He attended the American Academy of Art and exhibited his work in that city until 1994, when he moved to Europe. Over the next five years...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract David Mellen Art

Materials

Wood, Varnish, Pigment

David Mellen art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic David Mellen art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by David Mellen in fabric, linen, oil paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large David Mellen art, so small editions measuring 30 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Craig Mooney, KX2: Ruth Avra + Dana Kleinman, and Harriette Joffe. David Mellen art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $2,600 and tops out at $35,000, while the average work can sell for $15,500.

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