Original drawings by Melvin Way (born 1954).

Melvin Way, an African-American New Yorker, began to develop schizophrenic tendencies in his late teens. A musician in high school, Way began creating these complex, notational,  "equations" while participating in an institutional art program in the 1980's. Part musical score, part scientific and mathematical nomenclature, his drawings are evidence of knowledge that only he understands. Hermetic expressions of his thoughts and feelings, Melvin Way's drawings are art of the most honest kind - an exploration of the mystery of life.

Literature about Melvin Way -Where Postmodern Art and Schizophrenia Intersect, by Eleanor Munro, New York Times, March 31, 2002. Algebra Is Drunkenness, by Allen S. Weiss, Cabinet Magazine, New York, Fall 2002. How to Look at Outsider Art, by Lyle Rexer, Harry N. Abrams Publishers, 2005, New York