John Mellencamp: American Paintings and Assemblages On Sale October 2022
Before John Mellencamp embarked on a musical career, he seriously contemplated
pursuing a career as a painter. While both outlets offered him creative
expression, music knocked a bit louder and so started the path that made him the
acclaimed singer-songwriter we have known for over four decades. Mellencamp
never gave up his artistic aspirations however, continuing to paint as he wrote
songs, recorded in the studio, and toured. His large-scale oil portraits and
mixed-media assemblages document America’s heart and soul, revealing unsettling
but beautiful truths with an anti-establishment frown and a rich sense of
narrative.
JOHN MELLENCAMP: AMERICAN PAINTINGS AND ASSEMBLAGES is the definitive survey—curated by the artist himself—of Mellencamp’s oeuvre as an expressionist painter, grabbing our attention through the canvas. For example, Mellencamp’s 2005 ode to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. titled Martin Luther King shines a spotlight on how society has fallen short on King’s renowned dream by incorporating the text “Martin Luther King Had a Dream and This Ain’t It” into the painting.
Full of self-portraits made over the years as well as portraits of other
well-known subects—including Marlon Brando, Johnny Cash, and Meg Ryan—as well as
a variety of everyday people, Mellencamp’s art is storytelling at its finest.
About The Author: John Mellencamp is an award-winning singer-songwriter whose
music career spans over 45 years. As a painter, collector, and longtime activist
he has exhibited his work in galleries and museums across the United States. He
is a member of the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame, a recipient of
the John Steinbeck Award, ASCAP Foundation’s Champion Award, The Woody Guthrie
Award, the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and most
recently, the Founders Award, the top honor assigned by the American Society of
Composers, Authors and Publishers. His latest studio LP Strictly A One-Eyed
Jack, out now on Republic Records, reached #1 on the album charts upon its
January, 2022 release. Dr. Louis A. Zona is the executive director and chief
curator of the Butler Institute of American Art, in Youngstown, Ohio. David L.
Shirey is a former foreign correspondent, critic, and editor with Newsweek
magazine, a critic and cultural writer for The New York Times, and former chair
of the MFA Fine Arts program at New York City’s School of Visual Arts.
Award-winning editor and publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. has created and managed
some of America’s most iconic publishing brands, including SPIN and Gear.
JOHN MELLENCAMP: AMERICAN PAINTINGS AND ASSEMBLAGES
By John Mellencamp
Foreword by Dr. Louis A. Zona
Essays David L. Shirey and Bob Guccione Jr.
Hardcover / 11” x 12” / 256 pages / 170 artworks
$65.00 US / $85.00 CAN / $47.95 UK
Rizzoli New York / ISBN: 978-0-8478-7234-3
ON SALE: October 2022