Born in 1942 in Phoenix, Arizona, Ed Mell showed an early interest in drawing and design. He studied to become an art director at the Art Center of College and Design in Los Angeles and later applied his technical skills doing commercial illustration work at prestigious New York City advertising agencies. While in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mell did illustration work for such clients as TWA, Esquire Magazine, Helena Rubenstein, and National Lampoon. “It was an exciting time, but the dream was not quite there for me.”

A pivotal moment in Mell’s artistic career came in the summer of 1970, when a friend invited him to teach art classes on the Hopi reservation. Two summers teaching on the reservation rekindled Mell’s connection to the West, and in 1973 he returned to Arizona permanently.

Mell described his painting style as “desert modernism. Not cubism but with cubism’s straight lines to add strength.” His landscapes convey both the reality and the romance of desert vistas, but though some places are immediately recognizable, Mell’s preoccupation was in capturing mood. “Think of driving through an area like Monument Valley. Later … you won’t remember details, but you will have a lasting impression of the forms, colors, and, especially, the mood.”

Standing Orange Rocks, painted in 1983, is minimal and modernist, imposing in scale. The architectural rendering of the rocks and clouds carries hints of a city scape—perhaps an oblique nod to Georgia O’Keefe’s city scapes of the 1920s—and reflects both Mell’s appreciation of art deco style and his technical art education. Maynard Dixon’s influence is apparent in Mell’s dramatic use of light and shadow in rendering awe-inspiring rock formations that seemingly project off the canvas.

Today, Ed Mell’s work is included in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Phoenix Art Museum, Booth Museum, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, and Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. He passed away on February 21st, 2024.

“Ed Mell was a legend. [He] …carved the path for all of us. Broke the rules, opened the doors to the possibles, dropped modernism on western art and took it to the next level.” – Mark Maggiori