representing a famous British artist at the time, and he had
grand ideas on what he could do for them and how big he
“You don’t
is working in that same genre, I guess I was just too early!
But then we live in a commercial world and WG have got
could make Melissa. Th ere was also a Japanese Gallery that to do what works best for them and I recognise that!”
he was talking to and they in turn had a print company he “What I love about the art world is that it’s all about
thought he could get them into.
Melissa again: “In fact we’d already met the woman who
have to listen
‘giving’ and everybody ‘shares’ amongst artists, not with
the businesses but with the artists. When you’ve got ideas,
owned the gallery on Rodeo Drive and their whole structure when you’ve got stuff that works you show somebody
and fi nancial package was enormous. So the remuneration
was absolutely huge and the prospects were very exciting, to other
else and you share it. It’s a very nice ‘community thing’
really. Th at’s why throughout history, groups of people
we’re talking in the millions here. like the Pre-Raphaelites and Impressionists all hung about
“He fi rst organised an exhibition for me in San Francisco
and that went well, but in the interim Lyn had been
people, you
together because they were sharing stuff and they grew
and developed their work by sharing instead of becoming
doing some research on this chap and was becoming very insular. You’ve got to learn from others and that’s what they
unsure about him. I, on the other hand, was fi lled with the
ambition and the potential of what was going on. I ignored
don’t have
did, that’s what it’s all about. All my art has been learned
from looking at other artists, talking to other artists as well
her sound advice and he got me a place in LA where I as looking at artists from history. You can talk to people
produced a lot of work. By now Lyn had had enough, she’d who are alive today and you’re still learning, learning all the
found out that this fellow was an absolute fraudster. She’d
spoken to the other British artist and found out that he [the
to care what
time.”
But you have a style of your own, interjects the writer?
artist] was suing him for $1m and there was another famous “I do, and it’s very specifi c. I always wanted to have
Californian artist called Howard Bahrens who was another
very famous Californian artist who was suing him for a
other people
a stamp that was specifi cally mine, but I still know my
infl uences. Mary Cassatt’s lighting is important to me,
further $3m. Now I didn’t know any of this, as I say I was Klimt’s use of refl ective materials is really important to me
put up in this place in LA, still producing work and didn’t
realise the guy was completely broke and continuously
think and
and everybody plays their little part.
“If you’re going to paint successfully you’ve got to look
trying to hop from one thing to another. When we’d met at other paintings, you’ve got to look at other works, you’ve
him he had the biggest stand at Art Expo to show his got to be aware of what’s around you because it’s a way of
Artist’s work, yet he didn’t pay for anything, nothing at all.
He was the biggest con artist on this earth. Anyway, I’m
it doesn’t
understanding the limits or ‘no’ limits.”
Where are you at now questions the writer?
still blissfully unaware of things and he set up an event in ‘I’ve had a number of exhibitions recently and I’m
Aspen in Colorado. It was at the St. Regis Hotel and we
went there with a whole lot of my paintings and I was ‘on
matter
still exploring my New York theme. I’m also still very
much into painting females and ‘Th e Secret Place’ work
the bill’ as they say. Anyway, at the last minute Dean Caine remains successful and I continue to enjoy that. Again
[Superman] who was meant to be co-hosting the event
couldn’t make it and I took over his role. So I ended up
that it’s
it’s very much about this exploration of light, using light
and dark to produce shapes, the whole composition thing
co-hosting this event with Ivana Trump presenting an award is so important to my work. I think that the freedom
to Goldie Hawn for her work in Tibet. I met Kevin Costner
at the do, and that evening saw me night clubbing with
completely
that working with abstract on my nudes gives me the
possibility of building up my constructions and making my
Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson at the Caribou Club. It was compositions exactly what I want. Th e shapes, the fl ows
a wild time and I did sell some of my work as well. and the feelings are exactly as they are because I’m not
“Shortly after the Aspen episode I came back home to
visit and was unceremoniously advised that I needn’t return
outrageous”
limited by what I’m actually portraying, I’m only limited
by the materials that are to hand and, I suppose, by my
to the States and that my contract was fi nished. In short I imagination in that respect.
was told ‘You Aint Coming Back’! “I’ve just started a project which is absolutely fascinating;
“All my belongings were there, all my paintings were
there, I hadn’t seen any money come in from anything that
I’d done and things were becoming pretty desperate!
“In the end I managed to get back most of my
belongings and, eventually, my paintings too, but only by
default. A gallery owner out in the States noticed them
just as they were about to be sold off . Th ey had never been
moved back from Aspen and ‘Th e Man’ couldn’t aff ord to
move them and so he’d put them into this sort of sale and
the gallery owner intercepted them and got them back
for me. Th ey were wonderful and I’ll always remember
them for their kindness. So with the paintings back in the
country and renewing my acquaintance with Lyn we sold-
on the returned paintings and were back in business!
“I got taken on as a Washington Green artist and
completed a series of works for them entitled ‘Th e Secret
Place’, which became widely appreciated. Th ey were of
girls highlighted in front of windows. I think there were
about 36 originals in the collection and they went ‘just like
that’. It was the earlier ones that got reproduced when, to
my mind, I hadn’t quite worked them into the state I was
completely aiming for. To some degree it was a pity that so
much of my work ‘in style’ was sold off as originals before
they were seen by Glyn [Washington], as the later pieces
really came together. I really loved what I was doing with
the New York work as that was so powerful, but at the time
Glyn and Paul Green felt it was just too diff erent for the
market. Th at was ten years back, ten years forward everyone
Katie Melua, Melissa’s latest Rock Face release
picturebusiness 23
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