Mark Oberndorf

Mark Oberndorf is a realist painter and recipient of an individual artist fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. He has mostly exhibited in New Jersey, but also shown in New York...

Mark Oberndorf is a realist painter and recipient of an individual artist fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. He has mostly exhibited in New Jersey, but also shown in New York, Atlanta, Sacramento, and London. Notable exhibitions in New Jersey include shows at the Morris Museum, Middlesex County Museum, Westwood Gallery, and Lambert Castle Museum. Mark has participated at Art Expo in New York City and his work remains in the permanent collection of the Fritz Behnke Historical Museum in Paramus, New Jersey. Exhibitions outside of New Jersey include participation at Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, Mason/Murer Gallery in Atlanta, and repeated showings at Plus One Gallery in London. 

The paintings focus on pre-gentrified culturally historic small businesses and homes in Northern New Jersey, usually in Bergen county. Often portraying vintage signs of mom and pop diners and burger shops, the paintings also show non-decorative middle class and upper middle class homes before the injunction of contemporary development. People who have lived and grew up in New Jersey will find some of these iconic symbols familiar such as the sign for the Miss Universe diner or familiar businesses underneath landmarks like bridges in Jersey City or on the gritty streets of the city of Elizabeth. 

Portraying both urban decay as well as suburban nostalgia, Mark explores the aesthetics of recent historical markers dating back from the mid 20th century to the 1990’s. The homes he portrays are not glamorous or idealized nor are the signs or small businesses he displays. Mark represents these structures in a realistic, unflattering manner in their aged, corroding, and accurate appearance. The paintings are a statement against what Mark describes as the ‘so-called progress’ of development which leads to the destruction of these iconic symbols, buildings, homes, and businesses. 

Pizzaland (pictured above) represents the iconic family-owned shop featured on the intro scene of the 90’s show The Sopranos about a New Jersey-based mafia family. The business, located in North Arlington, New Jersey is an extremely modest tiny shop which implies appearances could be deceiving. Amazing pizza and food await those who enter her doors yet the modest appearance becomes irrelevant due to local fame and status. Pizzaland becomes an icon through good food and local roots, not through flashy marketing or gimmicks. Mark captures the lack of glory or prestige in appearance and instead focuses on the interior mechanics which makes Pizzaland so great, the legendary food which garnered recognition from the local community and The Sopranos. 

Mark Oberndorf creates fascinating cultural art which anyone from New Jersey or an ungentrified urban or suburban area can easily relate to. He captures the essence of change and the danger of imposing development on communities acclimated to their current cultural roots. Mark makes a clever commentary on the importance of appreciating and preserving our historical markers no matter how old they may be, because they represent a sense of identity and community engagement. The astonishing detail of cracks in bricks and realistic neon colors from retro signs shows Mark as a technical master of urban design. Mark Oberndorf’s paintings communicate a sense of vintage appreciation towards our immediate past and surroundings.

Artist website: https://markoberndorf.com

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