I saw the work of Dawn Mellor last summer at a Gallery in the east village of NYC. I remember this horrifying feeling of unsettlement as I saw the huge paintings of the characters of the Wizard of Oz in nightmarish situations. She also did a series of famous people demonized. It really makes me think about our society's cultish obsession with celebrities. I thought I'd share some raw thoughts I wrote from my journal at the time of viewing.. and also would like to know what everyone thinks of Dawn and the ideas she brings up.
"We live in this world that celebrities and fictional characters are so fawned over and glorified that we feel they are our friends or apart of our family. We think of these people, like John F. Kennedy, Mother Teresa, Obama and even Dorothy, as untouchable. We are affected by what they do, what they stand for, how they act. We see ourselves in them. They are our idols, the people we want to be. Therefore to see these people in horrific situations it’s not just disturbing, it’s devastating, because it’s almost as if it is our brother or grandmother in these situations. By using these characters, Dawn Mellow isn’t just shocking us with gore, she is making us feel the utmost sympathy for these people, because it’s as if we know them. If she had made up the person to put in the same scenes as Dorothy in her paintings, we wouldn’t care nearly as much as we do now."
Yes, she handles the paint very well. You should check out some of her other stuff from her Wizard of Oz series, particularly ones that show the yellow brick road. As horrifying as these images are, I can't stop looking at them.
I like your reaction to her paintings especially of celebrities..I too feel that discomfort when i look at the wizard of oz picture, as that was one of my favorite movies growing up. It's interesting how she can affect so much just by breaking down something that is so loved. I would love to see her do other popular things, like the Little Mermaid or Toy Story or something.
I had never heard of her before and checked it out online. That stuff was super horrific but at the same time really inspiring. I say I don't care about celebrities and could give a sh-- who they're dating or divorcing. At the same time, ya know patrick swayze dies and you're like, a little sad inside. For some reason this person you don't know means something to you. The media is responsible for your emotional attatchment to an image. I don't like that feeling. It screws with your head....nice job Mellor. She makes me want to delve into this in my own art.
This is very interesting stuff... very disturbing and dark. She definitely is trying to get her message across to the viewer and to play on the emotions of the pop-culture obsessed. Very interesting.
Dawn Mellor
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