Zeljko McMullen

What I Knew As Fire

Exhibition dates December 4, 2021  to Feb 27, 2022

Meantime Co. is pleased to present the first dedicated solo exhibition of Zeljko McMullen’s handmade visual art pieces. McMullen is well known as a musician and a filmmaker, and the founder of the seminal Williamsburg art space and sound performance venue Paris London New York West Nile which existed from 2006-2010.

What I Knew As Fire is a presentation of works on paper and digital animations. Produced between 2013 to 2021, the series was shaped and influenced by the different geographic locations where it was created; namely Woodstock, NY; New York City; Oberlin, OH; Los Angeles; and Joshua Tree, CA. Functionally, the works serve as a record for ecstatic states of consciousness exploration. McMullen utilizes Qi Gong, Transcendental Meditation, Tarot, I Ching, Goetic Magic, Astral Projection, Brainwave Entrainment, and various other forms of Hermetic rituals as means towards accessing other areas of consciousness and creative expression. The dichotomy of intellectual endeavors with spiritual proclivities enables him to investigate both, without being indebted to either way of thinking. 

The visual language of this series is much indebted to the history of painting, specifically abstract expressionism. The work also incorporates studies of deconstructed sigils conjured through a process akin to automatic writing. Utilizing a rough form of print-making, in which layers of paint, oil, and ink are transferred from one piece onto another; the final images are densely composed of iterative patterning and don an almost vellum-like surface texture from repeated exposure to touch, the elements, and applied materials. 

McMullen currently lives and works in Woodstock, NY. He did his undergraduate studies in acoustic composition, electronic music, and studio art at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and holds a Masters of Fine Art from Bard College. In addition to his academic studies, he is a fervent student in the fields of mysticism, alchemy, and subtle energies. He has collaborated with notable contemporary art and music figures such as Lou Reed, Tony Conrad, Maryanne Amacher, Richard Teitelbaum, and many others.  His multi-media work has been exhibited across North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information please visit www.zeljkovision.com