Adam Mysock

after: Hans Memling's "The Last Judgment" triptych (c. late 1460's), Bambi's mother from Disney's "Bambi" (1942) acrylic on panel, mounted on a J.P. Sau...

From John William Waterhouse’s A Mermaid, 1900 We have a wonderful capacity to impose fictions on others in order to make them desirable. We o...

after: Joseph Shuster’s Action Comics #1 Cover (1938) and #19 Burning Flesh from Wally Wood’s, Bob Powell’s, and Norm Saunders’ Mars Attacks trading cards (1962) Framed: 9h x 9w in Continuing the exploration of Superman’s role as extraterrestrial anomaly – an alien who’s also a friend, I spent time considering how important one’s actions (on a singular occasion, in sum, alone, in collaboration with others, etc.) are in determining overall “goodness” or social value. In literally his first exposure to any reader, on the cover of Action Comics #1, Superman is shown smashing a large car against a rock, while three well-dressed men run away in fear. Taken by itself the image presents a deranged, super-strong vandal. It’s only upon reading the full narrative that we understand Superman’s action to be part of a rescue mission and the men to be gangster villains. When we allow Superman to be considered as an individual, responsible for his own actions, and over a series of events, rather than one incident, we find our hero. But when I offer Superman another alien (this one up to no good), and deny any exposure to a fuller understanding of circumstance, it’s much more difficult to separate Superman’s destructive actions from those of his new companion. Better Alone Than in Bad Company...

From Rembrandt van Rijn’s Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq (The Night Watch), 1642 The search for limits is an ongoing endeavor. Circu...

ABOUT THE ARTIST Adam Mysock was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1983 - the son of an elementary school English teacher and a lab technician who specializes in the manufacturing of pigm...

From John Singer Sargent’s Gassed, 1919 When considering the factors that are required (or at least helpful) for a lie to succeed, I constantly look to the audience. I constantly tr...

After: The Death of Seneca by Manuel Domínguez Sánchez (1871) and Eaton's Neck, Long Island by John Frederick Kensett (1872) Painted as a response to the ongoing conversations about race and policing in the United States in 2020, Having Missed the Mark with Our Grief focuses on the problem of the “But what about…” conversations that too often accompany discussions about systemic racism and discrimination. From the nonsensical All Lives Matter crowd to the virtue-signaling of more well-meaning, empathetic groups, people outside of BIPOC communities too frequently seem ready to misdirect valuable attention away from meaningful change toward their own unthreatened subcultures. Having Missed the Mark with Our Grief presents a mourning white male pulled from The Death of Seneca hovering above the shore of Eaton’s Neck, far from an “X” drawn in the sand. The setting is simple and uncomplicated beyond the target on its shore. However, the forlorn figure draws the spotlight away from the marked terrain toward his dramatic presentation of suffering. ADAM MYSOCK was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1983 - the son of an elementary school English teacher and a lab technician who specialized in the manufacturing of pigments. On account of a steady stream of folk tales from his mother and his father’s vividly dyed work clothes, he developed an interest in narrative and representative painting from an early age. Mysock earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Art History in 2004 from Tulane University and an MFA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 2007. After his studies, Mysock taught at the university level for nearly a decade, including as a Professor of Practice at Tulane University. In 2016, he and his family moved back to Cincinnati, where he currently serves as coordinator for Manifest Drawing Center. Mysock’s work has been exhibited throughout the country and is in private collections across the US, including the 21c Museum, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Ruslan Yusupov, Thomas Coleman and Michael...

After: The Young Beggar by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (c. 1645-50) and Approaching Thunder Storm by Martin Johnson Heade (1859) The main character of this painting finds himself mired in a pond as a sizeable storm approaches, and yet – instead of standing up and removing himself from the trouble – he chooses to focus on the discomfort of his wet clothing. This child, attending to a minor nuisance rather than enacting a permanent solution, stands in as an icon of our current sociopolitical leadership – leadership which has defined our modern reality by its preference for constantly kicking the can on major issues (climate change, income inequality, various forms of discrimination, and so much more) as the rest of us are left to watch from the shore. ADAM MYSOCK was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1983 - the son of an elementary school English teacher and a lab technician who specialized in the manufacturing of pigments. On account of a steady stream of folk tales from his mother and his father’s vividly dyed work clothes, he developed an interest in narrative and representative painting from an early age. Mysock earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Art History in 2004 from Tulane University and an MFA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 2007. After his studies, Mysock taught at the university level for nearly a decade, including as a Professor of Practice at Tulane University. In 2016, he and his family moved back to Cincinnati, where he currently serves as coordinator for Manifest Drawing Center. Mysock’s work has been exhibited throughout the country and is in private collections across the US, including the 21c Museum, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Ruslan Yusupov, Thomas Coleman and Michael...