Mark Thomas Gibson

With comic-book style compositions and caricatures, Gibson offers history painting to dystopic American myths

Miami-born, Philadelphia-based artist Mark Thomas Gibson (born 1980) explores contemporary culture through painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture, revisiting pivotal moments in American history while implicating viewers as potential participants in the unfolding narrative. Storytelling is thus a pivotal aspect of his graphic, eye-catching works, inspired as much by the satirical prints of Honoré Daumier as by the history paintings of Jacob Lawrence and the pulp novels and comic books of McCarthyist America. As Gibson explains, "I am constantly reminded in every news cycle that we are entwined in a history of unfinished stories and plot points." Employing caricature, pop culture, horror and a dash of illusion, Gibson blends up two centuries of American history, from Manifest Destiny to the Biden era, serving it back to us with a raucous, caustic flair.