Artist James Mullen presents The Pilgrimage Project

The Gallery at Barrington Center for the Arts presents James Mullen—The Pilgrimage Project. James Mullen is the chair of the Bowdoin College Department of Art. The show features 99 paintings of gorgeous landscape work that chronicle his “pilgrimage” to sites of notable American landmarks—and important earthwork art like Smithson’s Spiral Jetty. The exhibition opens March 19th with a reception at 4 P.M. and artist talk from Mullen at 4:30 P.M. The show runs until April 20 with open gallery hours Monday-Saturday 9 A.M. -7 P.M.

More about the exhibition from the Artist.

“My work is centered on visualizing the landscape, a continuation of a body of work that I have been building over the last two decades that explores our relationship to the environment.

Recently I have refined the focus of that investigation to examine iconic sites of the American landscape celebrated by 19th century artists. All of these destination landscapes have been primarily understood through a reliance upon mechanical reproduction, whether through the dissemination of engravings and more recently through platforms like Instagram. My work is generated from visiting these sites, and treating them as primary documents to be experienced first-hand.”

The Gallery at Barrington Center for the Arts hosts four major contemporary art exhibitions each year and two spring thesis exhibits of work by senior art majors. The art gallery is situated in the Barrington Center for the Arts at Gordon College and directed by Prof. Bruce Herman, Lothlórien Distinguished Chair in the Fine Arts.

The Pilgrimage Project is the fourth exhibition of The Gallery’s 2021-2022 season. It is followed by Senior Thesis Exhibitions, opening April 23rd and May 7th.

James Mullen - The Pilgrimage Project
On Display March 19 - April 20, 2022
Opening Reception & Artist Talk, March 19th - 4:00pm
The Gallery at Barrington Center for the Arts | Gordon College
255 Grapevine Road, Wenham, MA 01984
Free admission

About the Artist
Born and raised in the rural environment of western New Jersey, James Mullen received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Sculpture and Printmaking from the University of New Hampshire in 1985. In 1986 he participated in the LaNapoule Summer Art Program, then
completed his Master of Fine Arts in Painting at Indiana University in 1991. He has taught at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, the University of Evansville in Indiana, and since 1999 has taught at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME, where he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art. Mullen has received numerous awards and scholarships including an Individual Artist Grant from the state of Georgia as well as Research Grants from both the University of Evansville and Bowdoin College. He has had over twenty solo exhibitions
at venues including the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art in Augusta, GA, The Chattahoochie Valley Art Museum in LaGrange, GA, Artemisia Gallery in Chicago, IL , The Maine Center for Contemporary Art in Rockport, ME, and at Providence College in Rhode Island. He has also
had several solo exhibitions at the Ruschman Art Gallery in Indianapolis, IN and at Sherry French Gallery in New York City. He has also been awarded residencies at the Spring Island Artist in Residence program in South Carolina, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and at the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest, IL. In 2010 he was selected for an Artist Residency at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, and in 2015 was awarded a residency at Hewnoaks Artsist Colony. In 2015, he was awarded a Puffin Foundation Grant for the Pilgrimage Project. Recent solo exhibitions have included Phoenix Gallery in New York City, New England College in Henniker, NH, University of Southern New Hampshire, College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, ME and Gordon College.