Marlon Mullen’s Painting Sources
Discover the publications that serve as points of departure for the artist’s explorations of color and form.
Dec 10, 2024
Books and magazines of all kinds fill shelves and rolling carts at NIAD Art Center in Richmond, California. These publications are available to the artists based there, and often arrive as donations. Marlon Mullen began using this print material as subject matter for his paintings in the mid-1990s. But over the last decade, he has turned almost exclusively to art-related publications, such as Art in America and Artforum, as the points of departure for his work. Text is meaningful to Mullen not for its content but for its form. Engaging repeatedly with these sources, geared towards “insider” art world circles, Mullen stakes his own place in the conversation.
Below, see several of Mullen’s paintings featured in the MoMA exhibition Projects: Marlon Mullen, alongside the publications that inspired them.
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2023.
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2024. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2024. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2015. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2024. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2015. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2016. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2015. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2024. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2016. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2016. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2016. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2017. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2018. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2018. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2022. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2017. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2015. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2023. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2016. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2016. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2017. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2016. Acrylic on canvas
Marlon Mullen. Untitled. 2016. Acrylic on canvas
Projects: Marlon Mullen is on view at MoMA December 14, 2024–April 20, 2025.
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