Very grateful to John Yau for his insightful review of Mark Milroy’s solo exhibition “Jumbo” in Hyperallergic. See below. Link to full review in bio:
“Knowing his work as intimately as I do, I did not realize that “Jumbo,” at JJ Murphy through May 16, was his debut New York exhibition. It includes 18 paintings ranging between 10 by 8 inches (~25.4 x ~20.3 cm) and 60 by 75 inches (~1.5 x 1.9 m), and 12 colored pencil drawings measuring 12 by 9 inches (~30.5 x 22.9 cm) in a binder on the gallery desk. While the predominant subjects are still lifes and portraits, what Milroy does with these time-worn subjects, especially on a larger scale, is what makes this exhibition special. In a 2013 essay that the poet Douglas Crase wrote about Milroy, he pointed out Cedric Morris, the erudite, self-taught painter and Lucian Freud’s teacher, as an influence. Another of Milroy’s inspirations is the compressed non-perspectival space and warm humanism of 15th-century Florentine painting. . . .
Milroy, who teaches art to middle schoolers, has drawn inspiration from a wide range of sources. Over the brief period that he has been exhibiting his work, it has become denser with narrative possibilities. The interplay between his colored pencil drawings and paintings and the directness of his marks is notable at a time when faux awkwardness mixed with irony has become commonplace. Milroy’s unabashedly direct paintings and drawings put him in the same company as another great, quirky, American original, Albert York, whose works the poet and critic Bruce Hainley once described as the “pursuit of lyric intensity while negotiating a point-blank confrontation with history.” We see this confrontation in Milroy’s work mixed with painful childhood memories, yearning, and love.”
Gallery hours: Thurs–Sat, 12–6 PM.
Pictured:
Still Life with Poodle and Portraits
2026
oil on canvas
20 x 24 inches
@mark_milroy #hyperallergic #johnyau #contemporarypainting #jjmurphygallery
![MARK MILROY FINAL 3 DAYS!!!LAST CHANCE to see “Jumbo,” Mark Milroy’s solo exhibition of paintings and drawings.JJ MURPHY GALLERY is located at 53 Stanton Street on the Lower East Side, one block south of Houston Street. Open: THURS – SAT, 12 – 6 PM.“[Mark] Milroy, who teaches art to middle schoolers, has drawn inspiration from a wide range of sources. Over the brief period that he has been exhibiting his work, it has become denser with narrative possibilities. The interplay between his colored pencil drawings and paintings and the directness of his marks is notable at a time when faux awkwardness mixed with irony has become commonplace. Milroy’s unabashedly direct paintings and drawings put him in the same company as another great, quirky, American original, Albert York, whose works the poet and critic Bruce Hainley once described as the “pursuit of lyric intensity while negotiating a point-blank confrontation with history.” We see this confrontation in Milroy’s work mixed with painful childhood memories, yearning, and love.” — John Yau, HyperallergicPictured:Tiger Stripes2025oil on canvas16 x 12 inches@mark_milroy #portraitart #portraitartist #contemporarypainting #nycartist](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6727666620552638576723_0_b11cda9420147f57b238ba20e960ed51.jpg?o=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&h=7d75a775de4ad6093eb094a51e2c470f)
