Someone once told John Mellencamp that if he really wanted to sell his work, he needed to paint still lifes and flowers.

“I don’t want to sell paintings that bad,” Mellencamp said.

One walk through “John Mellencamp: Expressionist,” which opened Thursday at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, is proof that he didn’t take that advice. Inspired by the work of German expressionist painters, Mellencamp’s work is filled with dark subject matter and figures that range from sad to serious to grotesque.

Wearing denim bib overalls and a white T-shirt, John Mellencamp pulled up a stool and talked about his art.

The rocker from Indiana was visiting the Butler Institute of American Art Thursday night, where his new art exhibition, “John Mellencamp: Expressionist” is now on view.

About 100 invited guests crowded around a corner of one of the galleries, where Mellencamp answered questions posed by Butler Director Louis A. Zona.

If the artist’s attire was surprising in such a formal setting, well, that’s a hallmark of art, said Mellencamp.

“Art should surprise the artist,” he said. “If the artist is not surprised, then it’s something else.”