First published: Summer 2025
Fascinated by the front pages of magazines, studio artist Marlon Mullen distorts barcodes, spines and lettering to create his own bold, abstracted versions
Every now and then, Marlon Mullen takes a break
from painting to walk across the studio to the sink.
Beside his canvas, three peaches, a full cup of black
coffee, an opened but as-of-yet untouched bottle of
water, and two packets of brown sugar are all arranged
geometrically. At intervals, Mullen straightens the items,
adjusting the peaches to a more perfect line, or checking
the angle between the sugar packets. Sometimes he
gestures to them as he works, in case the relevance
that the set-up has to his work is not clear.
Marlon Mullen, Untitled, 2015, 32 x 32 in. / 81.5 x 81.5 cm; Courtesy: Collection Brendan Dugan
Mullen’s careful practice, which begins far before his paintbrush makes a mark on the canvas, is bound to the way he makes art. He is staging his work, directing certain movements right up until the moment he begins to paint – which he does with such clarity and determination it is as if his forms were directed from the materials themselves, already existent, waiting for his brush to pull them towards the surface.
And, while the adjoining table and the studio sink sometimes feel like a part of the painting, the canvas sometimes feels like a part of the room. The areas not actively being worked on are used like any other surface, a place for open tubs of paint and the artist’s lunch box, and a spot to rest his non-dominant hand.
Marlon Mullen, Untitled, 2017, 36 x 36 in. / 91.5 x 91.5 cm; Courtesy: Collection Brad and Clare Haizak
Mullen lives in Richmond, California, where he was born in 1963. He has been going to a progressive art studio and gallery for adults with developmental disabilities or neurodivergences since 1986. Originally called National Institute for Artists with Disabilities, the centre is now known as Nurturing Independence Through Artistic Development (NIAD). During Mullen’s 40-odd years of going to the facility, the teaching-artists have become like studio assistants, helping him prepare pieces for the three outside galleries that represent him. So well-received is his work that, from December 2024 to April 2025, he had his first museum exhibition – a solo show at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
Marlon Mullen, Untitled, 2024, 40 x 48 in. / 101.5 x 122 cm; Courtesy: NIAD, and Adams and Ollman
By THEADORA WALSH
This is an article extract; read the full article in Raw Vision #123.
