Mell, Ed Biography

Mell, Ed Biography

Born in 1942, Ed Mell spent an idyllic childhood in what was then the small western city of Phoenix. He attended Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, and soon after graduation accepted a position in New York as an art director for a large advertising agency.

Seeking greater artistic freedom, he opened an illustration studio and was met with immediate success, establishing his national reputation. Still, Mell felt that he hadn't yet found his voice as an artist.

Seeking a break from the city's pace, he accepted a teaching position the Hopi reservation in 1970. Time spent on Arizona's Colorado Plateau reconnected Mell with the land he loved and his artistic course was set. He relocated to Phoenix and began painting his well-known landscapes.

Mell's creative drive has led him to produce bronze sculptures and print series in addition to his oils. Ed Mell's work is found in many public and private collections including those of Tri-Star Pictures, Phoenix Art Museum, Kartchner Caverns State Park, Diane Keaton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Babbitt.

Select Corporate Collections:

  • Atlantic-Richfield Corporation, Los Angeles, California
  • Bank One, Phoenix, Arizona
  • Loew's Ventana Canyon Resort, Tucson, Arizona
  • Mountain Bell, Denver, Colorado
  • Tri-Star Pictures, Hollywood, California
  • U-Haul Corporation, Phoenix, Arizona

 

Select Public Collections:

  • City of Glendale, Glendale, Arizona
  • City of Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
  • Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona
  • Kartchner Caverns, Southern Arizona
  • 2020 "New Works" Solo show, Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ
  • 2019 "New Works" Group show, Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ
  • 2019 "Along the Distant Mesa: An Homage to Maynard Dixon" Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ
  • 2018 Solo show, New Works, Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ
  • 2017 "25th Anniversary Celebration" Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ
  • 2016 Solo Show, Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ
  • 2015 "Sculpture Retrospective and New Paintings" Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ
  • 2014 Solo Show, Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ
  • 2012 - "Mell Modern," Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ 
  • September 10 - November 26, 2011 - The Forbes Collection, Forbes Galleries, New York City, NY
  • October - November 2011, The West Select, Phoenix Art Museum, AZ
  • 2011 Booth Museum of Western Art, Atlanta, GA
  • 2010 Ed Mell, New Works, Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ
  • 2010 Ed Mell: Paintings of the New West, Tucson Museum of Art, AZ
  • 2010 The Rockwell Museum of Western Art, New York
  • 2010 Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ
  • 2009- Grand Canyon Modern Masters Invitational, Kolb Studio, Grand Canyon, AZ
  • 2007 Arizona: A Millennium of Arizona Art, Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ
  • 2006-2007 Grand Canyon: From Dream to Icon, Tucson Museum of Art, AZ
  • 2003 Northern Arizona Unviersity Museum, Flagstaff, Arizona
  • 2002 Phippen Museum, Prescott, Arizona
  • 1996, 2000 Kolb Studio, Grand Canyon, Arizona
  • 1988, 2000 Museum of the Southwest, Mesa, Arizona
  • 1990,1996 Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • 1987 The Rockwell Museum, Corning, New York
  • 1984 The Nickolas Museum, Casper, Wyoming
  • 1983 Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach California
  • 1982 Center of Modern Art, Guadalajara, Mexico
  • Forbes Collection
  • Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Babbitt, Washington, DC
  • Craig & Barbara Barrett, Phoenix, Arizona
  • Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Coors, Golden, Arizona
  • Stephane Janssen, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger, Los Angeles, California
  • Diane Keaton, Beverly Hills, California
  • Southwest Art, May 2021
  • Western Art Collector, April 2021, Cover
  • Western Art and Architecture, February-March 2021
  • Western Art Collector, March 2021
  • Western Art Collector, January 2021
  • Antiques and The Arts Weekly, March 13, 2020, p. 12C
  • Western Art Collector, February 2020
  • Western Art Collector, January 2020
  • Western Art Collector, December 2019
  • Western Art Collector, November 2019
  • Western Art Collector, June 2019
  • Western Art Collector, April 2019
  • Western Art Collector, March 2019
  • "Maynard Dixon's American West: Along the Distant Mesa" by Mark Sublette, 2018 Western Art Collector, December 2018
  • Western Art Collector, August 2018
  • Western Art Collector, July 2018
  • Western Art Collector, April 2018
  • Western Art Collector, March 2018
  • Western Art and Architecture, Dec 2017, Jan 2018
  • Western Art Collector, February 2017
  • Western Art Collector, February 2018
  • Western Art Collector, January 2018
  • Western Art and Architecture, Feb/Mar 2018
  • Western Art Collector, July 2016
  • Western Art Collector, February 2016
  • Western Art Collector, February 2015
  • Art of the West, September/October 2014
  • Southwest Art, August 2014
  • Western Art Collector, August 2014
  • Western Art Collector, March 2014
  • Western Art Collector, January 2014
  • Western Art Collector, October 2013
  • Mountain Living, August 2013
  • Western Art Collector, February 2013
  • Western Art Collector, November 2012
  • Fine Art Connoisseur, May/June 2012
  • Western Art Collector, March 2012
  • Western Art and Architecture, February/March 2012
  • Western Art Collector, February 2012
  • Pasatiempo, August 2011
  • Western Art Collector, March 2011
  • Western Art Collector, March 2010
  • Southwest Art, March 2010
  • Western Art Collector, February 2010
  • Western Art Collector, January 2010
  • Western Art Collector, November 2009
  • Western Art Collector, March 2009
  • Western Art Collector, January 2009
  • Western Art Collector, March 2008
  • Luxe Magazine, 2008
  • Design and Architecture, November/December 2003
  • Southwest Art, October 2002
  • The Majesty of the Grand Canyon: 150 Years in Art by Joni Louise Kinsey, First Glance Books, 1998
  • Leading the West: One Hundred Contemporary Painters and Sculptors, Northland Publishing, 1997
  • Beyond the Visible Terrain, The Art of Ed Mell, Northland Publishing, 1996
  • American Artist, February 1984
  • Arizona Highways Magazines
  • ArtBook of the New West magazines
  • Experience AZ magazines
  • Smithsonian National Magazine of the American Indian magazines
  • Western Interiors and Design magazines
  • Who's Who in American Art