(Above) Planetary Land, 1964; mineral pigment, watercolor on paper; 11 x 17 inches
(Above) Planetscape #2, n/d; mineral pigment, watercolor on paper; 18 x 24 inches
(Above) The Universe, 1964; mineral pigment, watercolor on paper; 11 x 17 inches
(Above) Atom Belt, 1964; watercolor on paper; 11 x 17 inches
(Above) Atomic-Magnetic #3, n/d; mineral pigment, watercolor on paper; 11 x 16.5 inchesI HAVE NEVER HEARD OF MELVIN EDWARD NELSON. That’s OK. One of the reasons I attend the Outsider Art Fair is to get hip to new discoveries and reacquaint myself with the work of those artists I haven’t seen for a while. There’s nothing like it—most of the top dealers in the world for self-taught art are gathered under one roof.
Melvin Edward Nelson, aka M.E.N. also stands for Mighty Eternal Nation, was born in 1908 in Michigan. Nelson was an inventor; he was fascinated with the universe, planetary bodies and atoms. He built a “Planetron” — a device which allowed him to track UFO’s. Significant to his life is the story that on one night a UFO landed in a clearing near his home. When it left, he was able to gather the dust from the landing site and began to use it in his paintings. Cavin-Morris Gallery shows his work. They are located at 210 11th Avenue, 2nd Floor, NY, NY 10001. Their telephone number is 212.226.3768.
The biographical information above came from a review in NY Art Beat.
An AM repost from 1/6/09.
