The Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University is pleased to announce an exhibition of artwork by award-winning musician and accomplished artist John Mellencamp.
Crossroads: The Paintings of John Mellencamp, which opens on September 5, 2024, is the first exhibition at Indiana University (IU) to focus on the paintings of Indiana-born artist John Mellencamp. Since the 1970s, when he arrived in New York City to pursue a career in music and art, Mellencamp has created works of art that express a conflicted view of America, especially the plight of Americans living in the Midwest who have felt abandoned and overlooked. European Expressionism and American Regionalism serve as inspirations for Mellencamp’s artistic practice, providing a means of articulating social criticism in visual terms. Influences include German Expressionist Max Beckmann, Austrian Secessionist Egon Schiele, Walt Kuhn, Jack Levine, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. The exhibition explores common themes in Mellencamp’s work, including relationships, politics, self-portraits, outsiders, and life in small towns in the nation’s heartland.
“I am thrilled to present this exhibition of work by Hoosier artist John Mellencamp. IU students and our Bloomington community will have a unique opportunity to see a thought-provoking body of work that connects them with a sense of place, specifically the Midwest. My heartfelt thanks to Mr. Mellencamp for his generosity in sharing his art with IU,” commented David A. Brenneman, Wilma E. Kelley Director, Eskenazi Museum of Art.
The exhibition was organized in part by IU students who participated in the spring 2024 class Public Art and Collaboration: Curating the Heartland: Developing an Exhibition of John Mellencamp’s Painting, which was taught by David A. Brenneman, Wilma E. Kelley Director of the Eskenazi Museum of Art, and Caleb Weintraub, Associate Professor of Painting at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design.