Bridget Mullen b. 1976
Bridget Mullen’s paintings combine decisive mark-making with intuition and experimentation to conjure psychedelic compositions that oscillate between abstraction and figuration. Instead of sketching or initiating a painting with a concrete idea in mind, Mullen begins each piece with abstract marks, undulating lines, and a layering of color. Each formal development on the canvas informs the next until the totality of choices begins to evoke characteristics of a body—eyes appear and gaze lazily, hair and eyelashes unfurl, and arms and legs spring into motion.
The repetition of lines and a stutter of pigment are signature gestures in her practice, alluding to rapid movement or the passage of time. A visible tension between density and open space remains palpable regardless of composition, favoring exaggerated compression or an illusion of elastic expanse. Sculptural dimensionality and flatness, abstraction and representation, and solidity and fluidity are not oppositions within Mullen’s practice, but rather complementary halves of an enigmatic whole.
Bridget Mullen holds an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and a BAE from Drake University. She has been awarded residencies at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, MacDowell, The Jan Van Eyck Academie, The Lighthouse Works, Roswell Artist-In-Residence Program, The Fine Arts Work Center, VCCA, and Yaddo. Her recent solo exhibitions include Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, CA; Helena Anrather, New York, NY; and Annet Gelink, Amsterdam, Netherlands; and recent group exhibitions include Anne Barrault, Paris, France; Bosse & Baum, London, UK; Nathalie Karg, New York, NY; Wild Palms, Düsseldorf, Germany; DC Moore, New York, NY; Fahrenheit Madrid, Madrid, Spain; and L21, Mallorca, Spain. She is the recipient of the 2021 New York Foundation for the Arts Painting Fellowship, the 2017–2018 recipient of a studio from the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program, and the 2018–2019 participant in the Shandaken Paint School. Mullen’s work has been featured in Juxtapoz, Maake Magazine, and ArtMaze. Her work is in the collections of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art in Roswell, NM, and the Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, Long Beach, CA.
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Bridget MullenBirthday Series #16, 2021Flashe on linen12 x 9 in
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Bridget MullenBirthday Series #15, 2021Flashe on linen12 x 9 in
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Bridget MullenBirthday Series #11, 2021Flashe on linen12 x 9 in
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Bridget MullenBirthday Series #24, 2021Flashe on linen12 x 9 in
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Bridget MullenBirthday Series #14, 2021Flashe on linen12 x 9 in
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Bridget MullenBirthday Series #37, 2021Flashe and spray paint on linen12 x 9 in
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Bridget MullenBirthday Series #30, 2021Flashe on linen12 x 9 in
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Bridget MullenAngle Grinder (3), 2021Flashe on linen20 x 16 in
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Bridget MullenBirthday Series #36, 2021Flashe on linen12 x 9 in
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Bridget MullenDeath Prep, 2017Acrylic paint on panel48 x 36 in
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Bridget MullenAbstraction Is Inevitable, 2018Flashe and spray paint on linen70 x 68 in
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Bridget MullenLive Wires, 2017Acrylic paint on panel48 x 36 in
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Bridget MullenPussies, 2016-20Flashe, acrylic, and spray paint on paper30 x 22 in
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Bridget MullenDutch Mud, 2017Acrylic paint on linen24 x 22 in
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Bridget MullenWolf, 2020Flashe on paper16.125 x 11.25
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Bridget MullenYou're Home, You're Bacteria, 2020Flashe on linen26 x 16 in
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Bridget MullenThe Kiss, 2018Flashe, spray paint, and ink on canvas20 x 16 in
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Bridget MullenGreater Eclipse, 2019Flashe on linen16 x 20 in
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10 Years
9 Jul - 27 Aug 2022Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles is pleased to present 10 YEARS, a special group exhibition celebrating this milestone anniversary for the gallery. To mark the anniversary, founder Shula Nazarian and co-owner Seth Curcio have selected works by more than twenty artists from the gallery’s program. The exhibition will be on view...Read more -
Bridget Mullen
Birthday 10 Jul - 28 Aug 2021Shulamit Nazarian is pleased to present Birthday, a new series of paintings by New York-based artist Bridget Mullen. This will be the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. The paintings in Birthday utilize two distinct parameters to guide the creation of 32 iterative works: a vertical orientation at an...Read more
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Bridget Mullen Awarded Fountainhead Artist Residency
January 2022 — Wisdom & Energy: Multigenerational Artists November 20, 2021Fountainhead was founded in 2008 by collectors and passionate art appreciators Kathryn and Dan Mikesell, who believe connecting people intimately with artists impacts how we...Read more -
Now Representing Bridget Mullen
August 19, 2021Shulamit Nazarian is pleased to announce representation of Bridget Mullen. Mullen’s paintings combine decisive mark-making with intuition and experimentation to conjure psychedelic compositions that oscillate...Read more -
Bridget Mullen announced as New York Foundation for the Arts Painting Fellow
July 14, 2021Introducing | 2021 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows, Finalists, and Panelists The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) has announced the recipients and finalists of the...Read more
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Artforum: Bridget Mullen "Quitters"
Barry Schwabsky, Artforum, June 1, 2022 -
Hyperallergic: A Painter’s Delicate, Sexual, and Clinical Visions of Birth
Jennifer Remenchik, Hyperallergic, August 23, 2021 -
Artillery: Pick of the Week: Bridget Mullen
Cole Sweetwood, Artilley, August 4, 2021 -
Artforum Must See: "Birthday" at Shulamit Nazarian
Artforum, July 28, 2021 -
Hyperallergic: Bridget Mullen Exhibition Highlight for Gallery Weekend LA
Matt Stromberg, Hyperallergic, July 21, 2021 -
Juxtapoz: Birthday: Bridget Mullen @ Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles
Sasha Bogojev, Juxtapoz, July 12, 2021