Redefining the notion of authorship, Melgaard’s paintings are conceived not as pictures, but as excerpts from his ongoing painterly novels; which alongside his extended practice of sculpture, installation, and product design contrive elaborate meta-fictions that excavate the darkest depths of sub-culture. Blurring the bounds between abject degeneracy and shameless opulence Melgaard draws from all manner of inspiration, from heavy metal to art history, cartoons to porn, to articulate his subversive narratives and embellish his notorious cast of star characters.

Inside Patricia presents new canvases from Melgaard’s ongoing Synthetic Slut series. Based on archive imagery from New York’s infamous Plato’s Retreat swingers club, wonton debauchery and heathen indulgence become metaphors and literal backdrops for Melgaard’s approach to painting. Sex club scenes re-rendered with hyper-realist sheen are further debased with graffiti brushwork as Melgaard rewrites the scripts for his own deliciously perverse plots. Stylistically veering from hardcore realism to pure expressionistic filth, these scenes culminate as audacious money-shots. Melgaard’s approach to paint is gluttonously polygamous; his masterful technique is turned to ornamenting the lewd, procuring formal purity as raw pictographs.