Born: 2001, Toronto
Current Location: Toronto, Canada
Instagram: @krzepism
Biography
My artistic practice started when I was a kid: I would draw dinosaurs in kindergarten and figured I was pretty good at it. I would mostly copy images in pencil, but I started to explore and find my own voice when I attended OCAD University and met other artists with vastly different approaches. I remember meeting this one guy with a very loose and abstract sketchbook and I was blown away by the dichotomy of his work and my clean pencil sketches. Over the pandemic I threw every material I had available into experiments until I whittled down my style into something that sits comfortably in between the representational and abstracted. I am currently motivated by soviet illustration, medieval catholic art, contemporary portraiture, and my city of Toronto.
Artistic Practice
I mainly use acrylic gouache for my primary colours because I prefer its matte finish to a shiny one. I mix in cheap acrylics with my more expensive paints to save some money. I only paint on wood panels — sometimes illustration boards for design work — never on canvas. I hate the grainy texture of canvas and its lack of rigidity. I don’t know how to describe my style, I am not a part of any artistic movements… Let’s just call it “Krzepism.” I am interested in making things feel geometric, shapely, and flat while still maintaining a good level of realistic textural rendering. I typically draw inspiration from literature, music, art history, and the absurd. I’ve been pivoting towards making work that feels more personal and contemporary by utilizing myself as a character and using more familiar scenes as a backdrop for my work. Overall there is a throughline of human nature that is relevant in my art. I am inspired by artists such as Tamara Łempicka, Zinaida Serebriakova, Sasha Gordon, Gary Kelley, Clive Hicks-Jenkins, R.B. Kitaj, Ferenc Pinter, and many many more.
4. Exhibitions & Projects
My most notable show is still my first exhibition, Burnout, which was organized after my house fire in 2022. I had been gutted by the loss of my home and the damage to my artworks but found the energy to transform this traumatic moment into an amazing exhibition which showcased the damaged works and newer paintings. The exhibition documented the journey of rebuilding the lives of myself, my family, and neighbours. I did this in conjunction with my former housemate and roommate Ryan Johnston who is a sculptor and we exhibited at Remote Gallery, in downtown Toronto.
I am currently working on some exciting illustration projects that I can’t share just yet but stay tuned.
5. Additional Links or Press
OCAD University interview on house fire (2022):
Booooooom Magazine Spotlight: https://www.booooooom.com/2025/02/10/illustrator-spotlight-mark-krzepis/
Notable Clients: BADBADNOTGOOD and Charlotte Day Wilson.
6. Optional — Your Voice
Create (2021)
Create
or else you will die.
Create
or be wiped away
As if you had never been born.
Somewhere out there
lies a repertoire of unexplored ideas
forever trapped in limbo and
unable to permeate into reality
all because you put
the pencil
down.
— M. Krzepis
