David Mellen Paintings
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.”
(Biography provided by Ivy Brown)
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Artist: David Mellen
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 Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Oil on Linen: 'Death by Water'
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...
Category
2010s Abstract David Mellen Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Oil on Linen: 'Seaside'
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 Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Oil Painting: 'Blind'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
“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 bu...
Category
2010s Contemporary David Mellen Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Oil Painting on Linen: 'Taime'
By David Mellen
Located in New York, NY
'I am interested in the idea of a human form but with few details that could be recognizable as such. Ideally, it would only be a presence of something a viewer could relate to on an...
Category
2010s Contemporary David Mellen Paintings
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 Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Abstract Oil Painting: 'The Bell'
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 Abstract David Mellen Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Large Abstract Painting: 'Fragment'
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 Abstract David Mellen Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
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 Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Abstract Oil on Linen Canvas: 'Corrida'
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 Contemporary David Mellen Paintings
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 Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Pigment
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 Paintings
Materials
Wood, Charcoal, Handmade Paper
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 Paintings
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 Paintings
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 Abstract David Mellen Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Large Pigment on Canvas Diptych: 'Still Stand'
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 Paintings
Materials
Linen, Varnish, Pigment
Abstract Pigment Painting on Canvas: 'The Rhythm, The Blood'
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 Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Large Pigment on Canvas Painting: 'The Rhythm, The Blood'
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 Abstract David Mellen Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Abstract Pigment Painting on Canvas: 'The Offing'
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 Paintings
Materials
Linen, Varnish, Pigment
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 Paintings
Materials
Linen, Varnish, Pigment
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...
Category
2010s Abstract David Mellen Paintings
Materials
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...
Category
2010s Abstract David Mellen Paintings
Materials
Linen, Varnish, Pigment
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David Mellen paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic David Mellen paintings 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 paintings, so small editions measuring 30 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Joseph Piccillo, Jylian Gustlin, and Anthony Leone. David Mellen paintings 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 $16,000.