A fter almost two decades as an art dealer working between Los Angeles and New York, Mesler moved out to the country to focus on his painting, which was, until that point, a mere past.mes . In subject and style, the tropical vegetation of Mesler’s compositions evoke the fantastical jungles of Paul Gauguin and Henri Rousseau, and the exotic flora and fauna printed on mid-century American wallpapers. To these scenes, Mesler adds experimental phrases rendered in vibrantly coloured script. In dialogue with the likes of Ed Ruscha and Christopher Wool, Mesler’s boldly iconographic canvases explore the relationship between text and image. Composed on raw linen, Mesler’s distinctive style and deadpan texts act as a commentary on the artist’s many roles; son, father, artist, art dealer. Visually captivating and deceptively sweet, there lurks beneath the gloss and the glamour a certain existential malaise. Capturing the unlikely harmony between happiness, celebration and loneliness, Mesler’s work is as charming as it is enigmatic.

 
Whilst the bold, leafy pattern and graphic elements of Untitled (Hopes and Dreams) (2020) recall the vernacular of Los Angeles and Southern California design, the composition of the present work is derived from a history more personal. When the curator of Mesler’s 2017 exhibition “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” texted him a photo from the Beverly Hills Hotel, it brought forward a memory of the artist’s childhood. Prior to his parents’ divorce, Mesler vividly recalls an argument between the two while they were eating at the hotel’s infamous Fountain Coffee room. Boasting the original banana leaf wallpaper designed by Albert Stockdale in 1942, Mesler has subsequently described how he “remembered scratching the wallpaper, having it in my nails” (the artist, quoted in Boris Kachka, “How an Art Dealer Became an Up-and-Coming Painter”, The New York t.mes s T Magazine, 19 June 2018). From this recollects ion, Mesler felt the tides of inspiration, deciding to use those motifs and to “reappropriate them for myself and then use them in order to create my own language” (the artist, quoted in Maryam Eisler, “Joel Mesler: What Lies Beneath The Eye Candy”, Lux-Magazine, online). Recalling hazy summer days, the sumptuous California sun is setting fire to the tangerine hued “Hopes and Dreams”, yet, in characteristic Mesler style, the despotic message isn’t unilateral; the lush leaves in vivid green remain intact, withstanding the fiery red threatening to engulf it. Mesler’s expert blending of lush patterns and lithographic typology will be exhibited in the artist’s first solo museum exhibition in Asia at Shanghai’s Long Museum (West Bund) from February to April 2023.

喬爾・梅斯勒在從事藝術買賣將近20年後不再在洛杉磯和紐約兩地之間奔走，為了專注於繪畫創作，他搬到鄉郊居住，此前畫畫不過是他的閒餘消遣。梅斯勒的作品以熱帶植物為主題，在風格上帶有保羅・高更和亨利・盧梭的奇幻叢林色彩，也有中世紀美洲牆紙上動植物印花的異國風情。在熱帶植物的場景中，梅斯勒添上以鮮豔字體呈現、充滿實驗色彩的詞句。他藉著風格強烈的圖文，在畫布上探索文本與圖像的關係，與埃德・魯沙和克里斯托弗・塢爾等人的同類作品對話交流。梅斯勒在粗麻布上繪畫作品，其與眾不同的風格的風格和嚴肅冷峻的文字透露著梅斯勒對自己身兼兒子、父親以至藝術家、藝術經紀的評價。作品的視覺效果絢爛迷人，看似歡樂甜美，但在光鮮華麗的表象之下，卻潛藏某種對存在的不適感。幸福、歡慶、孤獨三者看似毫不相干，但梅斯勒的作品卻試圖捕捉它們共存的和諧景象，既充滿神秘感，又有著懾人魅力。

《無題（希望與夢想）》（2020年作） 中鮮豔茂密的樹葉圖案和繪圖元素令人不其然想起洛杉磯和南加州的典型設計風格，不過此畫其實與個人經歷有更密切的關係。在梅斯勒2017年的展覽「比佛利山落魄生活（Down and Out in Beverly Hills）」期間，策展人向他傳來一張比華利山酒店的照片，照片讓梅斯勒憶起他的童年。梅斯勒還記得父母離異前，二人在酒店劣評甚多的噴泉咖啡廳吃飯時大吵一架，場面歷歷在目。梅斯勒談到創作靈感源自阿伯特・斯托克代在1942年設計的蕉葉圖案牆紙，隨後更憶述自己「曾伸手去刮牆紙，牆紙還卡在指甲縫裡」 （引述喬爾・梅斯勒，錄於波里士・卡芝卡，〈從藝術經紀到畫壇新星〉，《紐約時報 T Magazine》，2018年6月19日）。 在這段回憶中，靈感的浪潮湧向梅斯勒，因此他決定將這些圖案「化為己用，然後用來創造自己的藝術語言」（引述喬爾・梅斯勒，錄於瑪麗亞姆・艾絲拿，〈喬爾・梅斯勒：繽紛甜美的表象之下〉，《Lux-Magazine》，網上資源）。畫中「Hopes and Dreams（希望與夢想）」的字母猶如被加州熾熱的陽光點燃，迸發出橘紅的色彩，呼應熱氣蒸騰的夏日。然而觀乎典型的梅斯勒風格，畫作不會只有單向的文字訊息：畫中鮮豔茂密的綠葉面對焰紅烈火依然完好如初，抵禦了被火舌吞噬的威脅。梅斯勒極為擅長將茂盛的植物圖案結合平版印刷字體，上海龍美術館（西岸館）將在2023年2月至 4月為梅斯勒舉行亞洲地區首個博物館個展，呈現其特色作品。