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Darlene Mellein
818-994-6901
darlenesemail@hotmail.com
www.darlenemellein.com
Darlene Mellein is a native California painter living in the San Fernando Valley. An intuitive artist, she paints in various media, and often includes elements of collage in her work. She approaches a blank canvas with an abandon and boldness that convey humor, freedom and imagination. Her graduate work in Literature at UCLA focused on the existential aspect of Hispanic, African American and women's writing and its representation of the effectively disenfranchised. Today, she traces the roots of her paintings to that earlier work, her inspiration coming from the underlying stories of various cultures, their triumphs as well as alienation, along with their colors and symbols. Darlene was a founding member of the Abbot Kinney Art Gallery in Venice, CA, and is currently actively involved with The Collage Association of America, Southern California Women's Caucus for Art, and Women Painters West.
“When I paint I transform the real into symbol, both archetypal and personal. My figures are non-specific, idiosyncratic and simple, suggesting everyman, sometimes hinting at the mystical. I flirt with the dark side and have a fleeting affection for it.
I employ a funky, whimsical style that has been my hallmark through a series of changes in my art, whether suffusing a painting with color or using unconventional materials in the collage process. I love the look of texture and the pleasure of working with it, suggesting the aging and imperfection of peoples and things. My subject is the universal human condition, our struggles and triumphs and ultimate decay.
There is an Urban/Primitive theme underlying most of my work. My paintings are my voice to reflect various cultures--from primitive man and our relationship to him, to the alienation of the modern. Humor and irony infuse my view of life and inform my art.
I also love the physical process of painting, open jars and paint smeared hands, and works in various stages surrounding me. The sheer love of the tools and materials draws me to the canvas. Once there, I like to take myself out on a limb, giving spontaneity and imagination the upper hand. I experience pure joy when I am working.”
EXHIBITIONS
2009 (June) “5IVE: Group Therapy” - VIVA Gallery, Sherman Oaks
2009 (May) “E-Collagical” VIVA Gallery, Sherman Oaks, CA
2009 (April) “How’d we get here: Where are we going?” Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2009 (Jan) Topanga Canyon Gallery Juried Show
2008 Ventura County Arts Council Juried Show Competition, Ventura, CA
2008 “Small Works” Orlando Gallery, Tarzana, CA
2008 Forbes Hall, Santa Monica, CA (Solo Show)
2008 Topanga Canyon Gallery Juried Open, Topanga Canyon, CA
2008 CAA Juried Exhibition, Burbank Creative Arts Center, Burbank, CA
2007 “There’s no stopping her now” – VIVA Gallery, Sherman Oaks, CA
2007 WPW Juried Show, Finegood Art Gallery, West Hills, CA
2007 Contemporary Women Artists, Mad Art Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2006 L.A. Artcore, The Brewery, Downtown Los Angeles, CA
2006 Long Beach Arts Juried Exhibition, Long Beach Art Gallery, Long Beach, CA
2006 Brand 35 National Juried Exhibition, Brand Gallery, Glendale, CA
2006 “Art above the City”, Gallery of Czech Culture, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
2005 Brand 34 National Juried Exhibition, Brand Gallery, Glendale, CA
2005 MAA Juried Exhibition, Sherry Frumpkin, Santa Monica Art Studios, CA
2005 WPW Juried Show, Fine Arts Factory, Pasadena, CA
2005 WPW Juried Show, Howell Green Gallery, Topanga, CA
2005 Women Painters West Juried Show, L.A. Artcore, the Brewery, Los Angeles
2005 Five No Boundaries, VIVA Gallery, Sherman Oaks, CA
2004 Regional Juried Exhibit, Thousand Oaks Community Gallery, CA
2004 L.A. Artcore, Barnsdall Art park, Hollywood, CA
2004 Folktree Gallery, Pasadena, CA
2004 Jubilee Nat’l Juried Christian Art Show, Fallbrook Art Gallery, Fallbrook CA
*****Darlene Mellein has exhibited in numerous other exhibitions prior to 2004*****
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* None of the artworks may be copied or reproduced without the written permission of the Artist