Fall Exhibition Opening and Reception: The Book of Mark by artist Mark Anthony Brown Jr., curated by Ming Joi

About the Exhibition:
God forgives; man may not. The Book of Mark traverses’ identity, semiotics, religion, and spirituality. Contending with morality, Mark Anthony Brown Jr. employs photography, drawing, printmaking, and installation to further infer markers of manhood, syncretize modes of divination and grapple with the ball and chain games of social progress. A Midwesterner rooted in the American South; Brown considers how our landscape connects one to spirit and ancestry. All of the elements are present–– the artist looks in all directions, through space and time, employing urban nkisis, cosmographic drawings, bricolage, and altar work to transmute contested histories and subjugated knowledge. The solo exhibition, The Book of Mark, curated by Ming Joi at the Stone Center presents a unique collection of contemplative works, expanding Brown’s photo-based practice multidimensionally into sculpture and time-based media.

About the Artist:
Mark Anthony Brown Jr. is a journeyman. An itinerant approach to living has influenced how he has chosen to navigate the current social landscape and indelibly his art practice. He currently lives and works between Cincinnati, Durham, Atlanta and now, Ithaca, New York. His practice is research driven and interdisciplinary; with a photographic sensibility at its foundation, it spans sculpture, drawing and printmaking with interests in vernacular aesthetic practices and sensibilities, critical engagements with the vernacular landscape and the manifestation of Afrikan cultural retentions in the diaspora.

Mark has received a Bachelor of Science Technology from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Fine Art in Studio Art from UNC-Chapel Hill, where he was a fellow in Museum Practice at The Ackland Art Museum. His work has been exhibited variously, including at the Cincinnati Art Museum and The Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh, NC. Mark has received fellowships and awards including the Emerging Lens Fellowship from ArtWORKS Projects in Chicago and The Nexus Grant from Atlanta Contemporary. He was a 2024 resident at Shandaken: Storm King and 2025 resident at Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. In conjunction with his art practice, Mark is also an archivist and an educator, currently serving as a Visiting Lecturer at Cornell University as a Strauch Early Career Fellow in Art.

About the Curator:
Ming Joi Washington was born prematurely and remains ahead of her time. She is a poet, curator, and critic engaged with Black cultural traditions. A proud Chicago native, she honed her foundations at Spelman College as a member of the AUC Art Collective. While there, she received the Art History Scholarship multiple times and gained valuable experience interning with institutions such as the Lubeznik Center for the Arts, the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Resnicow & Associates, and The Getty Foundation.

In 2024, Ming Joi served as the Curator-in-Residence at Artpace San Antonio. She is now a Lichtenstein Fellow between the Pérez Art Museum Miami and Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, continuing her journey at the crossroads of art, literature, and community. As a writer, Ming Joi explores Black feminist futures and traditions, weaving poetics, performance, and visual art through an interdisciplinary practice. Her work has appeared in Callaloo, The JSU Researcher, Burnaway, Scalawag, and Pigment Intl. magazines. She has been featured in museum exhibitions and staged internationally.

RSVP Now: https://go.unc.edu/bookofmark
Exhibition Brochure: https://go.unc.edu/bookofmarkbrochure

Date

Sep 25 2025
Past Event

Time

6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Location

Brown Gallery & HMR