Marlon Mullen’s (b. 1963) kaleidoscopic paintings feature interlocking shapes of tactile paint that reference images found in art magazines from the library at NIAD Art Center. A strong formalist, Mullen paints precise shapes in bold swirls of vivid colors, creating topographical pools of paint and confident graphic lines that delineate forms that had formerly served to make an image. As he distills and reconstructs his references, the paintings come to withhold what one might consider vital information, prioritizing previously minor or overlooked details.
With his uniquely rigorous manner of organizing the picture plane, Mullen upsets the expected hierarchy of elements in an image. Shadows move out from the background into the fore, stripes of a magazine barcode enlarge to become graphic scaffolding that provide movement and depth, while text is abstracted into imagery that performs an aesthetic or poetic function. On Mullen’s surfaces, the components are liberated from any purpose other than generating composition, gesture, and rhythm. Amidst these radical transmutations, the artist creates his own idiosyncratic universe that toggles gloriously between representation and abstraction.
Mullen was born in Richmond, California. He has had solo exhibitions at JTT, NY, Atlanta Contemporary, GA and White Columns, NY. His work has been included in numerous group exhibitions including the 2019 SECA Art Award exhibition, SFMOMA; the Whitney Biennial 2019; Way Bay 2 and Create, BAM/PFA, Berkeley, CA; Under Another Name, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY. Mullen received the 2014 Wynn Newhouse Award. His work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and The Museum of Modern Art, both New York, NY; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; and the Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR. Marlon Mullen is represented exclusively by Adams and Ollman in Oregon. He has worked at NIAD since 1985.
exhibition history
OBJECT INSIDE OBJECT OUTSIDE INSIDE OBJECT OUTSIDE OBJECT organized by GGLA // NIAD Gallery Exhibition // August 2023
Into the Brightness: Artists from Creativity Explored, Creative Growth & NIAD // Oakland Museum of California // May 2023
I have done it again./One year in every ten/I manage it—— // Adams and Ollman, Portland // February 2023
Adams and Ollman Booth // Felix Art Fair, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles // February 2023
Death of an Outsider // Shrine, Los Angeles // February 2023
Marlon Mullen // JTT Gallery, New York // January 2023
RISD Manual 17: “Variance” // October 2022
WIN WIN 10 Live Auction Sneak Preview // NIAD Online Exhibition // March 2022
Marlon Mullen, Massimo De Carlo, Hong Kong//2021
The Art Of Image Critique // Frans Hal Museum Netherlands 2020
Marlon Mullen // Adams And Ollman Portland, Oregon 2020
SECA Art Award Exhibition // SFMOMA San Francisco 2019
Whitney Biennial // Whitney Museum Of American Art New York 2019
CE x CG X NIAD // Minnesota Street Projects San Francisco 2019
Marlon Mullen: 2017 – 2018 // JTT New York 2019
Guerneville // organized By Gerasimos Floratos and Ross Simonini NIAD Art Center October 2018
Way Bay 2 // Berkeley Art Museum 2018
Dino Matt And Marlon Mullen // Adams And Ollman Portland, Oregon 2018
Affinity // organized by Tim Buckwalter Museum of Northern California Art Chico 2017
Trout Fishing In America // City Limits Gallery Oakland 2017
Summer Exhibition // Sorry, We’re Closed Brussels 2017
Marlon Mullen: P // organized by John Zurier NIAD Art Center 2017
Marlon Mullen // JTT New York 2017
Creature Feature // organized by John Casey NIAD Art Center 2017
Fonds Duvel-Moortgat // organized by MADmusée, Théâtre de Liège, Liège Belgium 2016
Outside // curated by Matthew Higgs Karma Amangasett New York 2016
Variations On a Theme // organized by Robert Wuilfe NIAD Art Center 2016
Looking Back, The 10th White Columns Annual // White Columns New York 2016
Celebrating A Vision: Art & Disability // SFO Terminal Three 2016
Marlon Mullen // Jack Fischer Gallery San Francisco 2016
Marlon Mullen // Adams And Ollman Portland, Oregon 2016
Welcome To My World // organized by Chris Ashley NIAD Art Center 2015
Marlon Mullen //Contemporary Art Center Atlanta 2015
Marlon Mullen // JTT New York 2015
Under Another Name // organized by Thomas J. Lax Studio Museum Of Harlem 2014
Ebony + Ivory // organized by Katie Johnson NIAD Art Center 2014
Check Your Head: Some Figurative Work NIAD Art Center 2013
Undercover Geniuses // organized by Jan Moore Petaluma Arts Center 2013
Mud, Honey // NIAD Art Center 2013
MHMMML // International Art Objects Los Angeles 2013
Color and Form // Jack Fischer Gallery San Francisco 2013
Mayor Tom Butt Selects The Art Of NIAD// Richmond Mayor’s Suite Richmond 2016
Breaking Barriers // organized by Patricia Watts Marin Community Foundation Novato 2013
Marlon Mullen // White Columns New York 2012
After Shelley Duvall ’72 // Maccarone New York 2011
Create // Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley 2011; Canton Gallery, Worcester 2012; Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton 2013; Longwood Center for the Visual Arts Farmville 2013; and Washington State University, Museum of Art Pullman 2014
corporate and public collections
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley California
Portland Art Museum, Portland Oregon
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
MADMusée, Belgium
Recent Press
Going On About Town, The New Yorker, February 2023 By Johanna Fateman
Vulture Art Review, New York Magazine, February 9, 2023 By Jerry Saltz, New York’s Senior Art Critic
Art Observed February 6, 2023 By D. Creahan
New York Art Tours February 3, 2023 By Staff
The Brooklyn Rail February 2023 By Jacob Brooks
“8 Must-See Gallery Solo Shows in February“. Galerie Magazine, February 2023
artnet news: I’m the Kind of Guy Who Wants to Buy Everything (February 14, 2020)
“Marlon Mullen“. Artforum, January 2023
Disparate Minds: Marlon Mullen’s Monumental Year (January 22, 2020
San Francisco Examiner: Bold New Work From SECA Award Winners (November 26, 2019)
KQED Arts: In a Future-Oriented SECA Show, East Bay Artists Shine (November 21, 2019)
Juxtapoz Magazine: SECA Art Award Recipients Emerge @ SFMOMA (November 19, 2019)
San Francisco Chronicle: Visual Intelligence Trumps Theory: SFMOMA’s 2019 SECA Exhibition (November 13, 2019)
Culture Vulture: SFMOMA’s 2019 SECA Award (November 11, 2019)
San Francisco Chronicle: True Selves (June 5, 2019)
Washington Post: The Whitney Biennial Presents The Best New Artists In The Country — And Lots Of Fluff (May 18, 2019)
Time Out: The Five Must-See Artworks At This Year’s Whitney Biennial (May 14, 2019)
Vulture: The New Whitney Biennial Made Me See Art History in a New Way (May 14, 2019)
The Art Newspaper: Whitney Biennial Aims To Focus On Artists But—As Protests Mount—It Cannot Escape Politics (May 13, 2019)
San Francisco Chronicle: Trio of Bay Area Artists Named SFMOMA’s 2019 SECA Award Winner (April 4, 2019)
Artforum: Marlon Mullen JTT (April 2019)
Disparate Minds: Marlon Mullen and Helen Rae (February 2019)
ARTnews: Pictures At An Exhibition (January 25, 2019)
artnet: Editors’ Picks: 15 Things Not To Miss In New York’s Art World This Week (January 7, 2019)
Time Out New York: Marlon Mullen (January 7, 2019)
San Francisco Chronicle: SFMOMA Announces 2019 Finalists For Prestigious SECA Award ( December 14, 2018)
ARTnews: Here’s a Look At What The Whitney Museum Has Acquired Over The Past Year (September 2018)
The Oregonian: 10 Portland Art Exhibitions To Brighten Your Winter (January 4, 2018)
Preview The 2017 Seattle Art Fair (August 2017)
Disparate Minds: Marlon Mullen at JTT (May 2017)
TimeOut: The top Five New York Art Shows This Week (April 24, 2017)
Disparate Minds: Masters and Emerging Artists at the Outsider Art Fair (February 2016)
ARTnews: Boundaries Blur At The Outsider Art Fair, Which Has Newfound Attention, Pricey Dargers, And Quite A Bit More (January 2016)
Hyperallergic: Outsider Art Fair Preview: Discoveries, Surprises And An Expanded Vision (January 2016)
Observer: The Top 10 NYC Gallery Shows of 2015 (January 2016)
Burnaway: Brut Force: Marlon Mullen at the Contemporary (October 2015)
ARTnews: The Error Of Margins (October 2015)
Arts ATL: Review: Diverse solo shows at Atlanta Contemporary suggest new curator’s interests (September 2015)
Artspace: Independent’s Matthew Higgs on Finding Space in the Market for Underdogs (March 2015)
Frieze Magazine: MHMMML (2013, May)
San Francisco Chronicle: NIAD Art Center’s Gifts Of Artistic Ability (2012, December)
Contra Costa Times: Richmond’s NIAD Makes Art Affordable And Accessible (2012, November)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Holy Cross Exhibit Displays Works Of Artists With Disabilities (2012, November)
MetroWest Daily News: Utterly Honest Art At Holy Cross In Worcester (2012, October)
Exhibition A: Incredible Marlon Mullen Show At White Columns (2012, March)
awards
SECA Art Award (2019)
Wyn Newhouse Award (2014)