Mellencamp’s paintings take spotlight at DeLand
Before singer-songwriter John Mellencamp wielded his guitar and musical prowess to produce hits such as “Hurts So Good” and “Jack & Diane,” he experimented with storytelling on canvases instead.
When he was about 10 years old, Mellencamp began playing with oil paints and finding inspiration from his mother, who was a painter.
Now 70, the artist has a body of work spanning decades — paintings, drawings and assemblages — that complements his musical career. A collection of more than 50 Mellencamp works are on display through March 27 at the Museum of Art — DeLand Downtown, showcasing paintings from the artist’s past and present.
“He painted a lot, but he never showed it,” said Pam Coffman, the museum’s curator of education. “It was actually Bob Dylan that got him to show the work. Dylan was at [Mellencamp’s] place one day, and he had literally hundreds of paintings. Dylan said, ‘What are you going to do with these?’ ”
If music represents Mellencamp’s outward-facing, very public work, his paintings reveal a quieter, reserved side of the creator’s artistry. He also doesn’t speak much about his art, as it comes off as more personal, raw and emotional than some of his popular music.
“When he’s on tour or making music, there are people around him all the time. When he’s in the studio, nobody’s there and it’s a chance for him to be alone and to be grounded,” Coffman said. “He said the art needs to speak for itself. If he wanted to write about it, he’d write a song.”
Coffman said that in Mellencamp’s early 20s, he went to New York with the intention of becoming an artist, musician or Broadway dancer. His music contract was the first to pan out, setting Mellencamp’s trajectory, but his interest in art never waned. He later attended the Art Students League of New York for formal training.
Drawing inspiration from German expressionists such as Max Beckmann, Mellencamp paints portraits of shadowy, somewhat bleak faces that confront the viewer. Mellencamp’s art finds a way to connect
PATRICK CONNOLLY/ ORLANDO SENTINEL
with the struggle of everyday people, something demonstrated in part by his choice to incorporate cardboard, wooden panels, found objects and house paint in his works. His assemblages and mixed media pieces involve boxing gloves, a tattered piece of the American flag, parts of a burlap sack and even bullets.
“Mellencamp does say that he thinks a good piece of work should find the beauty in the grotesque,” Coffman said. “That’s what he tries to do.”
Mellencamp first had works shown in DeLand in 2014, though many of the pieces in this latest exhibition were painted in the last several years. His portraits are largely up for open interpretation, but some pieces engage in more overt sociopolitical commentary. One painting focuses on the Second Amendment, while another involves George Floyd.
About six blocks north, in the DeLand museum’s main gallery on the campus of Stetson University, another exhibition showcases “outsider art.” Visitors can find work from artists including the Florida Highwaymen, Harold Finster and Purvis Young, the late Miami painter who began his craft in jail after what he said was a visit from an angel.
“Outsider art is supposed to be artists who were not trained in a regular school kind of environment. They learned on their own,” Coffman said. “In this exhibition, Purvis Young and a few others are what we call visionary artists, an artist who feels like God or some other source has compelled them to create artwork.”
While some of these works have specific back stories and messages, many leave room for imagination and interpretation — as good art should.
“I always say art should be a dialogue with the viewer, not a monologue by the artist,” Coffman said. “Everybody that comes in here could see the same piece, but they all take something different away because we bring our own background, our own experience, our own baggage.”
If you go
“John Mellencamp: Paintings and Assemblages” is on display through March 27 at 100 N. Woodland Blvd. in DeLand. “The Outsiders” is shown through May 8 at 600 N. Woodland Blvd. in DeLand. Admission is $10 per person; children ages 12 and younger enter for free. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 386-2797534 or visit moartdeland. org.
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