Current Exhibition
CONDITIONS OF THE SPIRIT
LANDSCAPES BY RICK MULLIN
June 2–20, 2026
OPENING RECEPTION
Thursday, June 4, 2026 | 6–8 PM
CLOSING RECEPTION & POETRY READING BY RICK MULLIN
Saturday, June 20, 2026 | 2–4 PM
Viridian Artists is delighted to present CONDITIONS OF THE SPIRIT, a solo exhibition of dynamic, rugged impasto landscape paintings by American artist RICK MULLIN. The exhibition will be on view from June 2 through June 20, 2026. An Opening Reception will be held on Thursday, June 4, from 6–8 PM, followed by a Closing Reception and Poetry Reading on Saturday, June 20, from 2–4 PM.
In CONDITIONS OF THE SPIRIT, Rick Mullin gathers together a visceral and immersive body of landscape paintings rooted in the terrain of Northern New Jersey and Upstate New York, places to which the artist returns repeatedly, drawn by an abiding emotional and spiritual affinity. Traversing the Delaware Water Gap, the Pine Barrens, and other natural settings throughout the Northeast, the exhibition unfolds as both a cartography of place and an interior meditation on memory, perception, and sensation.
Influenced by artists such as Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Paul Cézanne, Georges Rouault, and Chaïm Soutine, Mullin approaches painting as an intuitive and exploratory process rather than an exercise in strict representation. Working in richly layered oil and acrylic on canvas and panel, he builds densely textured surfaces through repeated applications of paint with brush and palette knife. Vivid color, gestural mark-making, and heavily worked impasto lend the paintings an almost sculptural materiality, balancing figuration and abstraction while emphasizing paint itself as both physical substance and emotional force.
Often painted en plein air or developed from sketches made on site, the works remain grounded in direct observation while moving toward psychological and atmospheric resonance. Rather than functioning as documentary representations, the paintings evoke the emotional tenor and sensory experience embedded within a particular landscape.
Though primarily self-taught as a painter, Mullin studied for three years at the Art Students League of New York in the studios of Ernest Crichlow and Hananiah Harari. Over the past three decades, he has worked closely with painter Paul Weingarten, whom he regards as an important mentor, as well as artist and educator Andrey Tamarchenko. Continued study in major American and European museums, particularly the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the artist regularly sketches, has also played a significant role in shaping his practice.
Based in northern New Jersey, Rick Mullin is a painter, poet, and writer and holds a BA in English Literature from Drew University. His paintings have been exhibited in solo and juried exhibitions throughout New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, including presentations at the Salmagundi Club, the National Art League, Nandi Gallery, and Viridian Artists, and are held in private collections across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Mullin is also the author of nine published volumes of poetry, including Soutine, a biographical novel in terza rima about the painter Chaim Soutine (Dos Madres Press, 2012), and the recent collection Grotesque Singers (Dos Madres, 2026). His poetry has appeared in journals and anthologies including American Arts Quarterly, The New Criterion, Measure, The Dark Horse, The Raintown Review, Epiphany, Bad Lilies, and Unsplendid. In the summer of 2026, Mullin will serve as artist-in-residence at Casa Dell’Angelo in Lubiara, Italy.
For further information please contact Lola Shepard, Acting Gallery Director
(212) 414-4040 or viridianartistsinc@gmail.com
Instagram: @viridian artists
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday | 12-6 PM