Feature Articles

October Issue 2002

City Art Gallery in Columbia, SC, Features Works by Philip Mullen from 1987 - 1992

The exhibition, Philip Mullen: Works 1987-1992, opens at City Art Gallery in Columbia, SC, on Oct. 24, 2002. A rare local solo show by the acclaimed Columbia-based painter will highlight a particularly rich period in the artist's life, one in which he produced many works on paper in addition to his monumental canvases. The show continues through Nov. 30, 2002.

Mullen, a professor emeritus at The University of South Carolina, is known for his large atmospheric canvases that evoke a sense of place. Many Columbia residents who have frequented the Koger Center are already familiar with his paintings. Three of Mullen's large canvases from 1987-1992 will anchor the exhibit. The City Art exhibit, however, will emphasize the artist's rarely seen works on paper, all made in this same time period. These possess the same sophisticated elegance and color of the larger canvases. The show presents collectors with a rare opportunity
to purchase Mullen's art at affordable prices.

In several works a large vibrant sky, whether in shades of blue, purple or yellow, looms over a street, a town, or a city. These places, in turn, are drawn in a sketched and abstracted fashion, thus rendering them as pleasurable and beautiful landscapes rather than actual specific depictions of those particular sites. Color defines Mullen's spaces with a palette that is both iridescent and soft. Other works depict flower vases or an architectural interior, with the latter painted on handmade Zahn paper from Holland.

Mullen received a BA from The University of Minnesota in 1964, an MA from The University of North Dakota in 1966 and a PhD in 1970 from Ohio University. His work has been featured in several group exhibitions and one-person exhibitions, the latter including the Dubins Gallery in Los Angeles and David Findlay Gallery in New York. His work is in several prominent public collections including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Denver Art Museum, the Mint Museum, and the Palm Springs Desert Museum, as well as in corporate collections such as Neiman Marcus, Max Factor, ATT, General Electric, and Chase Manhattan Bank.

For more info check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call 803/252-3613 or on the web at (www.cityartonline.com).

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