Melissa Chandon

Regarding her distinctive style, Melissa Chandon has said "I consider myself to be an abstract realist painter. My work could best be described as 'Americana meets Pop Art.'"

"Born as a child of the 50's, road trips were my parents' passion. They saw the American landscape as a means of educating their five children—exposing us to the humanity of highways, small towns, truck stops, and KOA Kampgrounds all across the US. To this day, I find roadside culture fascinating—motels, amusements, neon signs—and I feel it is important to document this era of U.S. history before it disappears."

In this exhibition of recent work, Chandon explores a subject rich imbued with nostalgia for road trips past and icon of Southern California life—the swimming pool. Her pools range from the requisite motel amenity of childhood, to the quirky backyard oasis of suburbia, to the sleek blue complement of mid-century modern architecture.

Melissa Chandon's paintings are in notable public and private collections including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (de Young Museum Morgan Flagg Collection), Morris Graves Museum, Napa Valley Museum, Triton Museum of Art, the University of New Mexico Cancer Research Center, and the Davis Medical Center. Melissa Chandon has an MFA from the Lesley University College of Art and Design, Cambridge, Massachusetts.