Mark Milroy's Debut New York Show 'Jumbo' at JJ Murphy Gallery

Mark Milroy, an observational painter in his mid-50s, presents his debut New York exhibition 'Jumbo' at JJ Murphy Gallery on the Lower East Side, running through May 16. The show features 18 oil paintings ranging from 10x8 inches to 60x75 inches, plus 12 colored pencil drawings in a binder. Milroy gained a following during the pandemic through Instagram, his website, and two online shows at Nancy Margolis Gallery (2022 and 2023). His first public exhibition was in 2024 at Pamela Salisbury in Hudson, New York. The titular painting 'Jumbo' (2023–26) references the P.T. Barnum elephant killed by a train in St. Thomas, Ontario, Milroy's hometown, in 1885. Influences include self-taught painter Cedric Morris and 15th-century Florentine non-perspectival space. Poet Douglas Crase wrote about Milroy in 2013. The artist teaches art to middle schoolers and his work is compared to Albert York by critic Bruce Hainley.