Art of Mel Tanner

Mel Tanner was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1925. After serving in the Army during World War II, he enrolled in art school under the G.I. Bill. He attended Pratt Institute, and studied painting at the Brooklyn Museum Art School with John Ferren and Max Beckman.

While a student at the Brooklyn Museum, he met Dorothy. They married in 1951, and moved to Syracuse, NY where they founded the Syracuse Art Workshop, teaching painting and sculpture.

The Tanners were visiting instructors of art with the Special Education Department at Syracuse University. They exhibited at various galleries in Manhattan and at the Everson Museum in Syracuse.

In 1963, they moved to New York City and opened Granite Gallery on East 57th Street. The Granite Art Association was also founded to further an understanding of the goals and trends of contemporary art, organizing seminars, forums, and exhibitions to achieve those aims. One of the forums, "The New Face in Art," took place at the Loeb Center at New York University. Participants included artists Louise Nevelson, Red Grooms, Norman Carton, and Gordon Brown, editor of Art Voices.

While operating Granite Galleries, the Tanners continued to develop their personal artistic expression. During the process they were attracted to the Plexiglas (acrylic) medium.

In 1965, after traveling extensively in Europe, they returned to the United States and established a studio in Miami

Through creative experimentation, the use of light and the unique light transmitting quality of acrylic became the basic elements in the development of the Lumonics art form.

The Lumonics Theatre opened to the public in Miami in 1969. It was a new art form that combined painting, sculpture, fountains, live projection, electronics, aroma, and music. This project became their major focus.

From 1969 to 1978, The Lumonics Theatre continued to be developed: the laser, electronic scanning devices, surround sound, and new projection techniques. There were ongoing performances for audiences ranging from student groups and planetarium directors to drug rehabilitation groups.

New light sculptures were created for the Theatre. Several art/technology installations were commissioned for the United States and South America as well as home and office environments.

In 1978, the next major development occurred: video. Through videotape, the multi-media projection could now be preserved and no longer be limited to a real-time format. It was now possible to bring the Tanner video art into the home through the medium of television.

In 1979 A federal grant was accepted to create a future ecology demonstration center in San Diego, and to produce videotapes for cable television that taught ecology by a new and different method.

In 1981, the Tanners were commissioned to create a Lumonics environment in Bangor, Maine. A reporter wrote, "Mel and Dorothy Tanner and their associates, a remarkable group, have turned the old Canal Bank on Broad Street from a stogy place of business and high finance into a place of genuine magic."

In 1982, the Tanners and associates moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Work was commissioned by WBZ-TV for the design of a new set and a world map; and Boston public television station WGBH commissioned work for the sets of Frontline and Nova.

In 1985, the group returned to South Florida, moving to Fort Lauderdale.

In 1986, the Tanners had a successful exhibition at the Patricia Judith Gallery in Boca Raton. A new wing was added to house the light sculpture of these two artists.

In 1988, the Lumonics Light and Sound Theatre opened to the public. The art and the performances were given much critical acclaim.

Mel Tanner passed away in 1993. Dorothy and associate Marc Billard have continued to expand and develop the Lumonics concept.

In 2005, the art of the Tanners was exhibited at the Coral Springs Museum of Art.
The art of Dorothy and Mel Tanner is currently on exhibit at Edge Zones Art Center, Miami, FL