The Drawing Room
Mark Joshua Epstein
Burgers for Breakfast
February 10–March 17, 2024
Opening reception Saturday, February 10, 3–5 PM
Closing reception Saturday, March 16, 3–5 PM
When it comes to simple indulgences, cake has colloquially been the answer…but what about burgers? Burgers for Breakfast is Mark Joshua Epstein’s meditation on simple aesthetic joys in his environment. Motifs of archways, luxurious tile patterns, and marbleized textures of historic Italy are blended with a nostalgic color palette reminiscent of a ’90s “jazz” patterned Sweetheart paper cup. This pairing takes that which is considered elegant and brings it back to your parents basement wrapped in flannel for spin-the bottle. Maybe you’ll lock eyes with something worth crushing on.
Mark Joshua Epstein, Your Last Hopes for Your Future Self, 2023, acrylic on watercolor paper, 7 x 5 inches
Mark Joshua Epstein
The works on paper in this show emerged from the time I spent in Rome last summer. Drawing inspiration from the city’s immersive baroque environments, in which paintings emerge from the disorienting patterns and colors of polished marble inlay, I began this series by trying to capture the sensation of navigating these overwhelming spaces while working on an intimate scale.
During an intense heatwave, I traveled north to Milan. There, I became obsessed with local burger chain Buns, a different kind of totalizing design. Conceived of by the firm Masquespacio, each Buns franchise builds on a shared formal language that evokes the suburban malls of the early ’90s, with rounded arches punctuated by circles and reflective surfaces against a wash of easter-egg hues: each is a Peach Pit reborn for the twenty-first century.
In between these two signposts—the high culture of the baroque, and the everyday pleasure of fast food—is this new work.
Mark Joshua Epstein, A Contender for Top Whatever, 2023, acrylic on watercolor paper, 7 x 5 inches
Mark Joshua Epstein received his MFA from the Slade School of Fine Arts, University College (London, UK) and a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University (Boston, MA). Epstein has had solo or two-person shows at Asya Geisberg Gallery (New York, NY); Ortega y Gasset Projects’ Skirt Space (Brooklyn, NY); SPRING/BREAK Art Show (New York, NY); Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY); NARS Foundation Project Space (Brooklyn, NY); Caustic Coastal (Salford, UK); Vane Gallery (Newcastle, UK); Demo Project (Springfield, IL); Biquini Wax Gallery (Mexico City, MX); and Brian Morris Gallery (New York, NY).
Selected group shows include Geary Contemporary (Millerton, NY); Gaa Gallery (Provincetown, MA); Golden Foundation (New Berlin, NY); Marquee Projects (Bellport, NY); TSA New York (Brooklyn, NY); Arlington Arts Center (Arlington, VA); Collar Works (Troy, NY); Good Children Gallery (New Orleans, LA); Monaco (St Louis, MO); Beverly’s (New York, NY); Des Moines Art Center (Des Moines, IA); and the Nerman Museum (Overland Park, KS).
Epstein has been an artist-in-residence at the British School at Rome (Rome, IT); Fine Arts Work Center (Provincetown, MA); Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT); Millay (Austerlitz, NY); Jentel Foundation (Banner, WY); MacDowell (Peterborough, NH); Saltonstall Foundation (Ithaca, NY); I-Park (New Canaan, CT); and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center (Nebraska City, NE); amongst others. His work has appeared in publications such as Whitewall, New American Paintings, ArtMaze magazine, Dovetail, and Two Coats of Paint. Epstein has curated or co-curated exhibitions at Woskob Gallery, Penn State University (State College, PA);
SPRING/BREAK Art Show (New York, NY); and MONO Practice (Baltimore, MD); among other venues.
Installation photography by Spencer House Studio