Sale 2578 - Lot 174

MEL ODOM (1950-)

"800 Men."
Pencil on vellum. 432x356 mm; 17x14 inches, sheet. Signed "O. © 85" in pencil, lower right. 1985.

Odom is a prolific and award-winning illustrator of fiction and fantasy novels and commercial media, known for his Art Deco style. This image was created for "800 Men," the first workshop designed to change men’s behaviors to safer sex practices, facilitated by Luis Palacios-Jiminez and sponsored by Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC). The drawing, expressing a tender encounter between two men, represents the artist's efforts at the beginning of the AIDS crisis to help lessen its devastation.  In addition to his artwork, Odom is also a designer of collectors' fashion dolls, a field in which he is currently active in addition to supporting LGBTQ charity causes. His well-known "Gene Marshall" doll, a Hollywood golden age glamour figure, and the companion dolls he created around her, are highly sought after.

Provenance: Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art Collection, New York.

 

Condition:

Vellum is fragile; it has toned unevenly, but lightly, around the edges which also bear occasional short creasts and a small vertical chip at right side. Corners reinforced with archival tape supports on verso (torn but repaired at lower left). Remnants of cellotape at top and bottom edges. Lohman inventory number penciled on verso.