Marlon Mullen

Above rather uncertain imagery, this brushy painting spells out ARTFORUM. Artist Marlon Mullen, an African American man with autism and expressive aphasia, rarely uses spoken or written language to communicate. He does, however, often incorporate words from found photographs or magazine covers into his original visual compositions. Working from a cover of Artforum, a magazine devoted to contemporary art and art criticism, Mullen appropriates an important mouthpiece for the art world and translates it into his own personal and rather private painterly vocabulary.

–Conor Moynihan, associate curator of prints, drawings, and photographs

Under rather uncertain imagery, this brushy painting spells out “ARTFORUM.” Artist Marlon Mullen often works from found photographs or magazine covers, translating them into his own aesthetic. He first came to the attention of the art world through his involvement with NIAD Art Center in Richmond, California. NIAD was founded in 1985 as the National Institute of Art and Disabilities, but its acronym also stands for Nurturing Independence Through Artistic Development.

An African American man with autism and expressive aphasia, Mullen rarely uses spoken or written language to communicate. Therefore, we invite viewers to consider this work without curatorial interpretation.