解構再重組的魔法，Marlon Mullen 的藝術狂想 Art Alchemist: Marlon Mullen

當大多數人翻閱藝術雜誌時，看到的是文字與圖像，但對自學成才的藝術家 Marlon Mullen 而言，這些印刷品反成了一個待解構的視覺寶庫。即將在紐約現代藝術博物館 (MOMA) 舉辦首次美術館個展《Projects: Marlon Mullen》的他，以獨特的藝術語言，將知名藝術刊物的封面或內頁轉化為充滿生命力的畫作，再次在藝術圈掀起一波新型態的創作對話。

Where most readers find text and images in art magazines, self-taught artist Marlon Mullen sees a visual treasury ripe for deconstruction. In his upcoming first museum solo exhibition "Projects: Marlon Mullen" at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), he translates covers and interior pages from prestigious art publications into vivid paintings through his distinctive artistic voice, initiating a fresh form of dialogue within the art world.

Marlon Mullen 從 1990 年代中期開始在 NIAD Art Center 創作，這間中心專門支持有發展障礙的藝術家，讓他們能盡情發揮他們的藝術天賦。2000年代末期，NIAD 藝術中心開始收到大量藝術雜誌的捐贈，《Artforum》、《Art in America》和《Frieze》等知名藝術刊物的封面和廣告頁則順勢成為了Mullen創作的主要靈感來源。

Since the mid-1990s, Marlon Mullen has been working at NIAD Art Center, a specialized studio that empowers artists with developmental disabilities to explore their artistic potential. The late 2000s marked a turning point in his creative journey when NIAD began receiving generous donations of art magazines. The covers and advertisement pages from renowned publications like Artforum, Art in America, and Frieze soon became the cornerstone of Mullen's artistic inspiration.

Marlon Mullen | Untitled, 2018 | 壓克力 麻布 | 91.4 × 66 cm

Marlon Mullen 並非單純複製雜誌內容，他習慣將雜誌封面或內頁平放在桌上作為參考，並以此為靈感，使用壓克力顏料在畫布上創作，呈現出充滿大膽且鮮豔的彩色作品。在他的畫作中，原始素材的元素都可能會被放大突出，雜誌上的文字、數字可能會消失或重複出現，所有的圖像元素在他手上都被轉化為最純粹的樣子，重新排列組合。

Far from simply copying magazine content, Marlon Mullen uses publications laid flat on his table as starting points for his acrylic paintings on canvas. His bold, colorful works transform the source material - magnifying certain elements, eliminating or repeating text and numbers, and reducing all visual components to their purest forms before recombining them in unique arrangements.

Marlon Mullen 在 NIAD Art Center 創作的照片 | 攝影：NIAD Art Center

這次在 MOMA 舉辦的《Projects: Marlon Mullen》，將展出他過去十年間的25件作品，其中包括兩件 MOMA 自己館藏的畫作。而展覽中亮點芝一是他的全新創作《Untitled. 2024》，這幅畫以 MoMA 出版的梵谷專書《Starry Night》為本，重新進行元素結構，向經典進行再對話。

MoMA's "Projects: Marlon Mullen" showcases 25 works spanning the past decade, including two from the museum's collection. A highlight is his new work "Untitled, 2024," which creates a contemporary dialogue with the classic by restructuring elements from MoMA's own "Van Gogh: The Starry Night" publication.

Marlon Mullen | Untitled, 2024 | 壓克力 畫布 | 121.9 × 101.6 cm

這次個展充分展現了 Marlon Mullen 獨特的藝術語彙和創作風格。他將藝術雜誌上的元素轉化為鮮明的色塊和簡化的形體，像是《Sculpture Magazine》封面上的人物肖像、天空的意象，還是書籍封面上的文字，都在他的詮釋下產生了全新的視覺張力。特別值得注意的是他對色彩的運用：從灰黑色調的沉穩、湛藍的純淨，到綠紅相間的活潑對比，每幅作品都呈現出不同的情緒基調，展現了藝術家對色彩的敏銳掌握。在保留原始素材某些辨識度的同時，他成功地將這些視覺元素重組，創造出既熟悉又陌生的藝術新語言。

This exhibition brilliantly reveals Marlon Mullen's distinctive artistic vocabulary and creative approach. He transforms magazine elements - from Sculpture Magazine cover portraits and sky imagery to book cover text - into bold color blocks and simplified forms, creating fresh visual tensions through his interpretation. His mastery of color is particularly striking: works range from subdued gray-black tones to pure deep blues and vibrant green-red contrasts, each piece conveying its own emotional resonance. While preserving recognizable elements from his source materials, Mullen reconstructs these visual components into a new artistic language that bridges the familiar and the unexpected.

Marlon Mullen | Untitled, 2024 | 壓克力 畫布 | 121.9 × 101.6 cm

Marlon Mullen | Untitled, 2015 | 壓克力 畫布 | 61 × 45.7 cm

此外，我最想推薦的是他這組在 2016-2017 年間創作的作品，在這系列方型畫作上，Marlon Mullen 展現了他將文字轉化為視覺構圖的獨特手法。每一幅畫作都呈現了他對字體設計和色彩運用的精湛掌握。從充滿趣味性的綠色背景上的「MUSCLE」和「GRRR」，到黑色底色上鮮明的「RED YELLOW and BLUE」文字排列，再到溫暖棕色圓形中央的「STARTING UP」。

One of my favorite highlights is Marlon Mullen's series from 2016-2017. In these square canvases, he brilliantly demonstrates his unique method of transforming text into visual compositions. Each painting reveals his exceptional command of typography and color - ranging from the playful combination of "MUSCLE" and "GRRR" against a lively green background, to the bold arrangement of "RED YELLOW and BLUE" on black, to the striking "STARTING UP" centered within a warm brown circle.

Marlon Mullen | Untitled, 2016 | 壓克力 麻布 | 76.2 × 76.2 cm

Marlon Mullen | Untitled, 2016 | 壓克力 畫布 |91.4 × 91.4 cm

Marlon Mullen | Untitled, 2017 | 壓克力 麻布 | 61 × 61 cm

這些作品展現了 Marlon Mullen 從不同來源中提取文字，並將其重新想像成強而有力的視覺語言的能力。他對文字的刻意安排，結合大膽的色彩選擇和簡化的形式，創造出游走於可讀文本和純粹抽象之間的作品，邀請觀眾以嶄新且意想不到的方式體驗這些熟悉的文字。

These works showcase Marlon Mullen's extraordinary talent for extracting text from various sources and reinventing them as powerful visual elements. Through his intentional word placement, bold color selections, and simplified forms, he creates pieces that bridge the gap between legible text and pure abstraction, offering viewers a fresh and unexpected way to encounter familiar words.