Myths, Memories, and Inspirations: A Mural by Dan Fenelon

November 1, 2009 – November 2010

Dan Fenelon is best known for his vibrantly colored works that include sculpture, toys, paintings, and murals. His work is a blending of cartooning, street art, graffiti, and ancient tribal motifs. Dan will create this site-specific mural for MAM’s Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation Art Stairway. The mural, inspired by works from the Montclair Art Museum’s permanent collection, re-imagines these images with Fenelon’s distinct tribal style. Easily apparent in the mural is Tony Abeyta’s Hunters Procession, 1995, animal imagery found on both totem poles and transformation masks, as well as various pottery, basketry, and katsina images found within MAM’s Rand Gallery. Fenelon, like Abeyta, believes that “if paintings are successful, they should communicate a powerful force, a feeling that is contained in all of us.” In this work, Fenelon is able to translate these feelings and inspirations of native art into his own vocabulary and vision.