Marilyn Mitchell

Lives and works in Pawling, NY/Beacon, NY

Artist statement

Marilyn Mitchell’s Statement - Her work is influenced by a desire to move beyond minimalism and conceptualism. Robert Ryman is her favorite minimalist and she uses white paint in deference to his sublime works. Allen Ruppersberg’s “Portrait of Dorian Gray” influenced her to use newspapers & magazines as sources of inspiration. Andy Warhol’s appropriation of common household objects also influenced her decision to interpret them as art objects. Instead of making multiples, she takes a mass-produced object, such as a newspaper or an advertisement, and makes a singular work of art by drawing or painting it. The act of interpreting a mass-produced object is altered simply by the mediation of the human touch. Art is a conversation, an extended conversation with all of art in the past and into the future. Being able to convey a specific message in that context is her goal. Most of her work has a message, be it social commentary, personal observation or political opinion. As an artist she has a duty to speak out about injustice and to pay attention to potentially controversial topics. Although there are abstract elements in her work, she believes entirely abstract work is now so mainstream, it has become decorative art. She has lived in the Hudson Valley since 2021 and has turned her focus to her current environment. Hudson Valley landscapes have a long and important history in art. In an effort not to make art that is a cliché, she has recently been using Google images...

Artwork