Mark Milroy was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and grew up in St. Thomas, Ontario. He received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has exhibited in galleries in New York City, Brooklyn, Chicago, LA, Sag Harbor, and Canada. His work has been featured in Columbia: A Journal of Art & Literature and New York Metropolis, and in the Absolut Vodka advertising campaign. Milroy’s work has been written about in City ArtsMagazine, Domino Magazine, The East Hampton Star, New York Arts Magazine, The New York Sun, The New York Times, Tokion Magazine, The Washington Post, and Dan's Papers, among others. He was the drawing instructor of The National Arts Club (2000-2012) on Gramercy Park in NYC and has a studio in North East Pennsylvania, where he lives with his wife the writer Kelly McMasters and their two sons, Emerson and Angus.
Milroy first began painting portraits in college while working at an association for adults living with mental illness and developmental disabilities in London, Ontario. The association’s social workers would often bring the individuals to Milroy’s studio to sit for portraits, and he learned to capture their unique expressions and personalities. He has been fascinated by the psychological aspects of portraiture ever since, pouring his discoveries into the faces and bodies of the sitters, as well as into the clothes and backgrounds of his canvases.
Despite the expressionist handling of paint and the exaggerated features, we can feel the sitter’s private desire to be understood, not simply recorded.
-Julia Morton, CityArts Magazine