Construction II, 1979
Charcoal on Paper, 41 1/2" x 29 1/2"
Drainage, 1978
Charcoal and Acrylic on Paper, 38" x 31"
Mel Rosas was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1950. He earned a B.F.A. from Drake University, Des Moines in 1972 and an M.F.A. in painting from Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, in 1975. Rosas creates prints as well as works on paper in charcoal and acrylic. His work has been exhibited in galleries and art centers throughout the United States, and he has been awarded two Creative Artist Grants from the Michigan Council for the Arts. In the late 1970s Rosas produced a series of drawings of construction sites, furnace rooms and pipes featuring tightly cropped compositions and lush surfaces.
*Excerpted from Tools as Art: the Hechinger Collection, published by Harry N. Abrams Inc