Melanie Pullen | Violent Times
Curated By Marisa Caichiolo
Presented By Esthella Provas & Associates, Beverly Hills
Curated By Marisa Caichiolo
Presented By Esthella Provas & Associates, Beverly Hills
THE WORK
The performance Violent Times, by artist Melanie Pullen, is an abstract interpretation that explores both the ceremonial and crude facets of violence, inherent in both nature and the human condition. Pullen, to create a tempo for the extreme nature of the piece, will create a theatrical setting, using the sounds of base bodily functions, including a human heartbeat, and breathing, made in real-time. As the physical sound evolves the performers also fluctuate between the concept of inflicted humantorture to barbaric untamed aggression.
The stark contrast of a minimal setting will be offset by an abundance of human parts and blood that envelope the scene as the performers are slowly over taken by the insanity which surrounds them.
In essence, Pullen’s work questions the effects that violence and mutilation, both real and simulated, have on the viewer in contemporary culture.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Melanie Pullen was born in 1975 in the West Village of NY. She is self-taught.
Her career began as a child when she occasionally performed with local artists in NYC, such as the tightrope walker Philip Pettit, and she would spend weekends with Shel Silverstein building cardboard houses. It was around this time Pullen also got her first camera and video camera and began exploring and learning the mediums. She often cast her local friends and family to be performers in her pieces.
Her most widely acclaimed bodies of work have been High Fashion Crime Scenes 2003-2016 and Violent Times (a Five Part War Project) 2008-2016: Both Violent Times and High Fashion Crime Scenes, were series that took more than 15 years to complete-with a crew of over four-hundred cumulatively, including hundreds of models. Pullen’s photography has been featured in numerous publications and broadcast including Esquire, New York Times Magazine, LA Times, Vogue, ELLE, Rolling Stone, Nylon, to name a few. Pullen’s work has been exhibited widely in the United States, Asia and Europe in both galleries and museums and is in many public permanent collections. Her awards include the prestigious D&AD Yellow Pencil Award.
The performance Violent Times, by artist Melanie Pullen, is an abstract interpretation that explores both the ceremonial and crude facets of violence, inherent in both nature and the human condition. Pullen, to create a tempo for the extreme nature of the piece, will create a theatrical setting, using the sounds of base bodily functions, including a human heartbeat, and breathing, made in real-time. As the physical sound evolves the performers also fluctuate between the concept of inflicted humantorture to barbaric untamed aggression.
The stark contrast of a minimal setting will be offset by an abundance of human parts and blood that envelope the scene as the performers are slowly over taken by the insanity which surrounds them.
In essence, Pullen’s work questions the effects that violence and mutilation, both real and simulated, have on the viewer in contemporary culture.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Melanie Pullen was born in 1975 in the West Village of NY. She is self-taught.
Her career began as a child when she occasionally performed with local artists in NYC, such as the tightrope walker Philip Pettit, and she would spend weekends with Shel Silverstein building cardboard houses. It was around this time Pullen also got her first camera and video camera and began exploring and learning the mediums. She often cast her local friends and family to be performers in her pieces.
Her most widely acclaimed bodies of work have been High Fashion Crime Scenes 2003-2016 and Violent Times (a Five Part War Project) 2008-2016: Both Violent Times and High Fashion Crime Scenes, were series that took more than 15 years to complete-with a crew of over four-hundred cumulatively, including hundreds of models. Pullen’s photography has been featured in numerous publications and broadcast including Esquire, New York Times Magazine, LA Times, Vogue, ELLE, Rolling Stone, Nylon, to name a few. Pullen’s work has been exhibited widely in the United States, Asia and Europe in both galleries and museums and is in many public permanent collections. Her awards include the prestigious D&AD Yellow Pencil Award.
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