Matt Mullican

The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are New York City. Works named in the authority record are Untitled. Work by Matt Mullican is recorded in the collections of Belvedere, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Modern Art and Tate. Distinctions recorded are Guggenheim Fellowship.

• Name — Matt Mullican • Born — 18 September 1951 • Birthplace — Santa Monica, California, U.S. • Education — California Institute of the Arts • Occupation — Artist, teacher • Mother — Luchita Hurtado • Father — Lee Mullican

Matt Mullican was born on September 18, 1951, in Santa Monica, California, to parents Lee Mullican and Luchita Hurtado. His mother was Venezuela born. In childhood he lived in Caracas, Venezuela for one year. Mullican received his BFA degree from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 1974.

Mullican rose to prominence as a member of The Pictures Generation along with such artists as Troy Brauntuch, Jack Goldstein, David Salle, James Welling, Sherrie Levine, Cindy Sherman, Louise Lawler, Richard Prince and Robert Longo. His work is concerned with systems of knowledge, meaning, language, and signification. Mullican also works with the relationship between perception and reality, between the ability to see something and the ability to represent it. Since the 1970s, Mullican has been known for his performances done while under hypnosis. During these performances, Mullican channels an alter ego known as 'That Person', who displays extreme and erratic behavior. Drawings made by Mullican while hypnotized are frequently exhibited and attributed to 'That Person'. Mullican's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally since the early 1970s at venues including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Germany, the National Galerie, Berlin, Germany, the Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam, Netherlands, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, and The Museum of Modern Art, NY. Mullican's work has been reviewed in Artforum, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, The New York Times, and Modern Painters, among others. Mullican has been exhibited in 2017 on the Petit Palais' facade in Paris during the FIAC art fair with his giant piece of art "For Worlds Between Five".