Ed Mell epitomizes not only the American Southwest painter but also the American Southwest itself. He possesses an understated grace, humility, and mastery uniquely reflected in his body of work in paint and sculpture. Known as Arizona’s native son, Mell’s influence permeates our state. His work seems to rival the very silent beauty and profound solitude of the American desert landscape he attempts to capture. If you live in Arizona or have ever visited, you’re familiar with his work and influence on our entire state’s aesthetic. His work resides in the Phoenix Art Museum, public spaces, his gallery and in countless private collections. Ed’s work is a perfect balance of Arizona’s inspirational surroundings, his personal influences, and his love of Modernism. He is a master of the Southwest.
Born in 1942, in the heart of Phoenix, Arizona, he clearly felt at home finding solace in the vast expanses of the Arizona sky that stretched out before him at an early age. He attended the Art Center College of Design in 1967, subsequently moving to New York to start a career as a commercial artist, illustrator, and Art Director. But his work turned a corner from 1973 to 1978 when he returned to Arizona to paint.
Mell’s early paintings, rendered in muted tones and bold strokes, captured the austere beauty of the Southwest with an honesty and simplicity that belied his years. Eventually, his love of Modernism began to find its way into his work. It is no doubt that all the art deco architecture and museums of New York had an effect on his work. Mell’s style, influenced by the works of Maynard Dixon and Edgar Payne, began to explore the interplay of color and form, experimenting with bold palettes and dynamic compositions that brought his landscapes to life. Ed redefined the artist’s “earth-toned” palette by adding and infusing vibrant cadmiums and light-fast thalos. He used his knowledge of color to steep his palette in these vibrant, richly saturated colors and gradients. He used his knowledge of the golden mean and his Love of Art deco to create his signature and fabulous angular-edged compositions.
However, it was not only the colors and shapes that defined Mell’s work; it was the sense of atmosphere, of mood, that permeated each canvas. They are windows into the essence of the Southwest, capturing the timeless rhythms of sun and shadow, wind, and rain against rugged mountain lines. One could climb right into his paintings. You can feel the cold of his rainstorms, the prick of a rose thorn, and the warmth of the sun on any of his sunsets. His blazing landscapes were a clean and organized representation of what we all see if we all take the time to look close enough at our gorgeous desert surroundings. In Mell’s hands, the desert became more than just a backdrop; it became a character in a book, with its own stories to tell and topography to reveal. Ed’s work most appropriately became the backdrop quite literally for the Phoenix’s Opera’s debuted production of Zane Gray’s “Riders of the Purple Sage”. Ed’s panoramic enormous, life-sized backdrops seemed to be the only option and absolutely elevated that performance. I actually gasped out loud when the curtain opened. It just seems there is no surface, room or space his work could not tastefully enhance.
His sculptures, too, spoke to this deep connection to the land, capturing the spirit and vitality of the animals that roamed the Southwest with the same stylized and angular shapes. From the majestic bison to the desert bighorn, each sculpture was a testament to Mell’s reverence for wildlife and his commitment to preserving its beauty and the Southwest aesthetic in time. His “jackknife” sculpture in old town Scottsdale is nothing short of iconic.
Yet for all his skill and mastery, Mell remained a reluctant figure in the world of art, steering clear the trappings of fame and fortune in favor of a life lived close to the land in privacy. He found inspiration right here at home in the quiet solitude of his modest studio and the untamed wilderness beyond. Ed remained, at heart, a solitary figure almost unaware of his contribution to our state and the art world, steadfastly humble.
Ed Mell occupies a revered place among the greatest American Southwest painters. In my mind, he stands out as a unique outlier among all modernist painters. Today, as we stand on the threshold of a new art era, Mell’s work serves as a symbol and reminder of the enduring power of art to transcend time and space, capturing the ineffable beauty and mystery of the world around us, while technology hurries us through this same world without notice. In Mell’s work, we find not just a reflection of the Southwest, but a confluence of two art movements tempered by seasoned skill and originality. I have a few friends that had met and knew Mel. I wish I could have met Mel. Personally, I relate to his work through a similar path as an artist: pursuant an education, commercial artist work as an illustrator and Art Director on both coasts, and eventually settling here in Arizona as an abstract landscape oil painter. I can’t deny his influence on my own work. Ed passed away February 21 of this year. He was 81. He leaves a legacy on the art world, on Arizona, on those who knew him, and on future generations of Southwest painters who carry a torch; they will be indebted to his trailblazing spirit for decades to come. And thanks to Ed Mell, none of us will see another Arizona sunset the same ever again.
Palmer Saylor III
February 22, 2024
