MARCH 11 – JUNE 19, 2020

Opening Reception with the Artist
Wednesday, March 11, 6 – 8 PM

Artist Talk with the Artist and Maria Brito
Thursday, March 12, 11AM

SOCO Gallery is thrilled to present an exhibition of new works by artist Douglas Melini. The gallery will host a public opening reception on Wednesday, March 11 from 6 – 8PM and an artist talk with Maria Brito, independent curator and art advisor, on Thursday, March 12 from 11AM – 12PM. This will be the artist’s first solo exhibition with SOCO Gallery. 

Influenced by an unlikely combination of Minimalism, Pattern, and Decoration, Melini investigates color, space, and the ‘abstract and pictorial nature of making an image’. He challenges how the audience views his works by opening up visual space and distorting horizon lines. Adhering to the Bauhaus maxim “form follows function”, his artwork creates a pause for the viewer, allowing and encouraging a moment of contemplation. 

For the “Into the Woods” exhibition, Melini has created 6 paintings and 12 collage pieces.  Inspired by the history of and the lush tree and mushroom growth in New Jersey Pine Barrens, the collages celebrate the cyclical and symbiotic relationships within the forest. The mushrooms, sourced from a dizzying array of field guides, are personified and presented larger than life. The vibrant and transparent watercolor connect the mushrooms to each other and to the world around. 

The colorful, abstract paintings are constructed with reclaimed wood sourced from tobacco barns in North Carolina and a build up of acrylic stain and sealant. They create a jigsaw viewfinder, drawing the audience in, both with their sculptural presence and their connection to the oil painting found within. At the center, the oil on linen is heavily textured and layered. The “natural “build up” of material contrasts with the foraged wood to create two vastly different ways of seeing visual articulated spaces - one natural and one assembled. This theatrical juxtaposition draws the viewer in further still, creating a portal to another world. 

Together, the paintings and the mushroom collages create one harmonious, natural biosphere. 

Douglas Melini (American, B. 1972)

Douglas Melini received his BA from the University of Maryland in 1994 and his MFA from California Institute of the Arts in 1997. Melini has exhibited nationally and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, Oregon (2018); 11R Gallery, New York, New York (2017); Feature Inc., NY, NY (2009-2014); Minus Space, Brooklyn, New York (2009); Ursula Werz, Tubingen, Germany (2005); Rocket Gallery, London, United Kingdom (2004, 1999) and Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, California (1998), among others.  In 2008, Melini was awarded a Painting Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts. His work has been reviewed and featured in The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Time Out New York, and Artcritical and is included in private and public collections worldwide. He is represented by Van Doren Waxter, NY, NY and SOCO Gallery, Charlotte, NC. The artist currently lives and works in New Jersey.