ECHO
“Reworking familiar imagery is just my way of giving history a second look.” – Jesse Mockrin
Based in Philadelphia, this artist examines Renaissance and Baroque artists’ art, with an eye on the survival of traditional narratives and beliefs in contemporary society. She then intervenes with her own modern canon.
Jesse Mockrin’s paintings “respond to histories of sexual violence and cruel treatment of women over millennia of myth and story, offering interventions and moments of resistance.”
Collectively, the paintings in ECHO highlight “an ongoing battle for bodily autonomy”.
The above painting is based on the Greek and Roman myth of Echo and Hera.
The biblical widow and heroine, Judith, beheads Assyrian General Holofernes and saves her people. This was a popular subject for artists in the 15 & 1600’s due to the “stark contrast between Judith’s femininity and the aggression of her violence.”
Mockrin builds up thin glazes of oil paint, a European Renaissance developed technique. “she crops her composition sharply, hiding critical elements of a story and leaving conflict unresolved.”
Unvarnished, her paintings have an eerie flatness.
“Grasping, pulling, lifting …. I am drawn to the ways that Baroque painters build drama and tension into their compositions.” Jesse Mockrin
Based on Ruben’s The Massacre of the Innocents, the woman in the right panel is based on one of the mothers protecting her children.
Painted circa 1610, The Massacre of the Innocents resides in the AGO’s collection. The photo on the left is an allowable share from the AGO. Click on the image to visit the page, and a larger version of the masterpiece..
In the Book of Genesis – Rachel and Leah were both married to Jacob.
Leah had many children. After many years of yearning to be a mother, Rachel had 2 sons. She died giving birth to the second child.
“It’s very emotional and very real, her longing for a child and then her tragic death as a result of it.”
“We think we’re not that similar to these characters, but they were just people, same as us.” – Jesse Mockrin
Pics taken by Resa – December 9, 2025
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
“Quotes in bold are by Jesse Mockrin”
“Quotes in italics are from the AGO”
All source is from the AGO
Graffiti Lux Art & More 
Fascinating! I love how she has reinterpreted the “Old Masters” and these women’s stories. I will have to go back and peruse the paintings more carefully.
(Her Website does not mention Philadelphia at all. It says she works and lives in LA, and there are no listed shows in Philadelphia either.)
Thanks Merril!
I like all that too, and her style is quite inviting.
Huh? That’s interesting about her living in LA? The AGO literature says she’s “Philadelphia-based”. (I thought of you immediately)
There are pics of her at the AGO with the collection, and it states that she helped prepare the selection for the show by studying the gallery’s collection of European art.
So, there is an in life connection and communication with the curators at the AGO. Therefore I would conclude the info to be accurate.
I can think of various reasons the information does not connect, but I can’t answer in all honesty.
OMG – She IS an ECHO!
This exhibition at the AGO is her first “solo” show, ever, anywhere.
Her talent is massive, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she has shows in the USA soon.
Although her pro-woman voice is so strong that there may be places her visions are not welcome.
Honestly, I can hardly wait to share more of the show. There’s a pentaptych titled “The Rape of the Sabine Women”. It’s mind blowing. I thought it was sculptures at fist.
She was inspired to do this piece by a tankard sculpted by Ignaz Elhafen, in the AGO’s collection.
It is fascinating work.
Weird about the info: https://jessemockrin.com/Info
Unless she moved to Philadelphia and hasn’t updated her site. I didn’t see anything about Philadelphia in the press release for the show–also on her Website.
Nice website!
Well wherever she’s based, her art is universal.
Perhaps her website is not updated…the last date is 2011.
I sent you a mail about it, as I want to be as correct as possible with info in my art posts.
Plus, I guess I just wanted to send you a mail! 💙
Awww 💙
❦💙
True beauty is that to the females. Wonderful is belongs to them. All the best, TOF
TOF!
You are right, and this artist captures that beauty!
I wanted to live in the collection. Then again, I always say that when I see art that moves me.
Cheers!
her reinterpretation and reimagining of them is powerful
I agree Beth!
Being in the exhibition rooms with her paintings was a visceral experience, that became intellectual when I finally calmed down.
liking the dramatic lighting of the candle-lit face in particular 🕯️
✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣
Yes, the candle light is brilliantly done.
Thank you, Graham!
❤︎ ~🕊~ 𝕲 ~🕊~ ❤︎
⬻𓂀☆♡🕯️𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑣𝑦🕯️♡☆𓂀⤖
💫✨ʁɞşα✨💫
These are magnificent paintings. I love the clarity and depth of color and the symbolism in her work. Classic and beautiful tribute to womankind.
I agree!
I was so impressed, and as happens often with art, fell in love.
Wait ’til you see some of the other pieces!
Meece, I am soooooo sick. It hit around 1 yesterday. Chills (but no fever), multiple up chucking, headache, body feels like I was hit by a truck and just all around gross.
A couple more comments, and it’s back to bed!
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Omg, I’m so sorry. Somethings going around. Bill was sick for two days and he never gets sick.
Get well gf!
xoxoxoxoxo
Trying.
The bathroom is my go to room!
xoxoxoxoxo
ohhh, you poor thing 🏃🏼♀️
💖🏃🏼♀️
❤️🩹❤️
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
xoxoxoxoxo
xoxo🐭🐭xoxo
Hey cutie Meece! How’s it going?
XO❤️🐭🐭❤️xo
The band is playing!!!
I’m better, but not all the way.
Adore you. Tomorrow, hoping to go scout the place for the art show I am doing with another artist!
XO❤️🐭🐭❤️xo
I’m glad you are better. Good luck out there with the art project. That’s very exciting!
xoxoxoxoxo
Saw the venue today…Wow…getting exciting. I’ll be able to show some gowns!
This sounds wonderful, I’m looking forward to seeing whatever you can share!
xoxoxo Will do! I had Leonard, Joni, Janis and Keith made into posters!
Omg, that’s awesome. Would love to see those. Good choices ❤️
xoxoxoxo
I’ll send pics, eventually. I’m documenting the show from yesterday on…you know – setting up to striking down and everything in between.
You will get first pics before any post!
✨ ~ xoxoxo ~ ✨
I’m so exited for you. You know I like to be first 🤗
Yes, I do, and I like that you are first.
Okay…. Canadiana… I’m doing a Neil Young drawing. (for the show) NOT an old Neil, but a young sexy Neil. I’ll mail you the pic I’m working from now!
Hoping you are up for a Neil Young post and his famous protest song OHIO about the Kent State killings!
xoxoxoxo
I’m so ready. Love Neil and bravo for these inspiring songs that help light the fire of resistance to totalitarianism. We all must resist.
I started last night! I’m so excited to draw him.
I must say, he was sooooo cute, a hippy rebel… those lips, the hair… and now, well, he’s still a rebel, but I would not recognize him in the street.
Time changes us all. I used to listen to him for hours while I played chess with Bill. We both loved his music. 🎶 good luck with that and can’t wait to see. xoxoxoxoxo
How cool that you and Bill had a Neil Young time.
I LOVE the song “Harvest Moon”!
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Harvest Moon is a favorite of mine. Keep on rocking in the free world is an inspiring and very timely song if his that I love. He had a voice like no other … when he sang with Crosby Stills and Nash I could always hear his voice so unique and amazing.
It’s happening again. I’m falling in love as I draw him. 💖💖
You know, his lips were like an angel’s wings.
They were… he’s an icon! ❤️❤️
Yes! ❤️❤️
His music holds messages, meanings.
Yeah! I always wanted to hear Cdidn’t stills and Nash when he was with them. He voice was far and above the rest.
LOVE it! (luv U 🐭)
Luv u back🐭🐭🎶
Echo (echo)🔊… She’s quite good with the fabrics. The shading👗👌
Hope you are staying warm. The days are getting longer🙂
Jesse is a fabulous artist. I spent hours basking in the paintings.
Warm?? LOL! We are buried in snow again. They say 10 more days, and we will be back to normal.
Yes longer days, yay.
You stay warm, too. ❤︎ ~🕊~ 𝓔𝓕 ~🕊~ ❤︎
Wonderful post Resa. I love the reinterpretation xxxxx
Thanks Shey!
I love this art. Sigh… what a great show.
xxxxxx
It is amazing . A visual feast.
Very evocative paintings and backstory.
Yes, I agree with that. What a wonderful show it was, and every time I go to the art gallery a new world opens to me.
Thank you, Brad!
Well done, Resa. 😊X
Thank you dear, John!
I’m quite sick, and heading back to bed shortly. It might take another day to visit you. OX OX
Don’t worry, just get better. 😊X
🤢X 🤒X
At least the green is gone. 😀X
Oh, yes, I do like these paintings! They really are very fine art.
Have a fine weekend, dear Resa!
Yes, the are fine art. Thank you for this comment, Martha!
We are being buried in a blizzard of snow. I hope it’s better where you are!
Have a wonderful week! xx
I was immediately drawn to “Longing,” “Lovesick,” and “A Cry Is Heard.” Rachel’s story is told in her face, and it’s heartbreaking.
Me too, Liz!
When you walk into the first room, that is the first image one sees. It pulled me right in.
I agree, Jesse has captured the heartbreak. Brilliant!
Fabulous post, Resa!!!! What strikes me most about Jesse Mockrin’s work is that it refuses to let history remain safely behind us. These figures aren’t distant myths or allegories sealed in another time. They feel uncomfortably close, as if the stories we tell ourselves about “then” are being quietly folded back into “now.” That’s what gives this work its power for me. It isn’t about shock or spectacle; it’s about recognition. The realization that bodily autonomy, agency, and resistance are not resolved chapters, but ongoing human struggles.
I’m especially moved by the idea of “reworking familiar imagery.” When artists like Jesse Mockrin revisit inherited visual languages, they give us permission, even responsibility, to look again, to question what we’ve accepted as normal, beautiful, or inevitable. These paintings don’t overwrite history. They speak back to it.
Art like this matters today because it slows us down. It asks us not just to see, but to reflect on whose stories were told, whose bodies were mythologized or erased, and how much of that legacy still shapes the present. In that sense, the work feels less like commentary and more like a quiet act of witnessing. Thank you for your amazing photographs! Truly spectacular.
Yay!
Thank you for this amazing analysis and your highly intellectual thoughts on Jesse Mockrin’s art.
I had seen it advertised on the AGO’s website, and knew I would love it.
However, I had no idea that it would be so bold in its commentary of as you say “These paintings don’t overwrite history. They speak back to it.”
I am beyond thrilled with your reaction to this art, and all that it speaks to.
Rebecca, your eloquent ability to put into words what you see, feel and think is astounding.
AND, thank you about my photos. I really do try. HUGS!
And you succeed brilliantly, Resa!!! I LOVE your posts and follow-up discussions!
Me to…you! Hugs! ❦👍
Beautiful paintings as always!! The expression of the lady in red (Beholden) took my breath away. What Jesse Mockrin did is incredible and also important for womankind, so thanks for highlighting her work!
Btw, check your email 😉 Ivan told me that his company rented a space at AGO next week, so he’s going there (I believe on Tuesday), though I think they have activities there, so I’m not sure if he’d have time to peruse the gallery.
I agree, the lady in red IS breathtaking.
I just wrote you. I was sick and in bed all day yesterday.
Oh.., I hope Ivan gets to check out something, anything at the gallery. It’s fabulous!
XOXOXOXOXO
The anatomy and choice of colours in a perfect shadow work are exceptional!
The woman captures the contours and curves in a feminine way. Fantastic!
Thank you, Resa, my dear art expert friend.
😊👏🙏💖✨🧑🎨
I agree, fantastic!
What a feeling being there with the art.
I’m so happy you like this, Aladin.
🙏💖✨🙏💖✨
Wonderful post in so many ways. The beauty and the fact that women still die in childbirth. The artwork is gorgeous and the whole post works together beautifully.
OMG! I missed this.
I missed lots while I was sick. AND on the coldest night, our furnace stopped working.
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment Gi! xoxo
I’m having flashbacks to the style of Thomas Hart Benson. The Echo reverberates in unexpected directions. Congratulations to Jesse Mockrin’s first solo show of exquisite imagery.
Many thanks, Resa, for documenting and sharing the art being shown at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Much appreciated!
You are so welcome, Cheyenne!
The AGO has a terrific collection and lots of fab exhibits.
Now, I thank you, and am going to look up Thomas Hart Benson!
Thomas Hart Benton.
Stunning! Yes, I see a similarity of eye and style. Thank you Cheyenne!
Nice to return the favor of introducing an artist…
👍❦
Wonderful! I found the first painting evocative of “The Creation of Adam,” as well. In the absence of the patriarchal god, the woman seems to encompass both roles, creature and creatrix. Not what the artist intended us to see perhaps, but something I certainly took from it. ❤️
Hello Camilla,
There is a lot to take from this artist’s work. Your take sounds pretty on to me.
I’m thrilled you saw this post. Thank you for coming by! ❦🕊
An excellent review of this artist. Her paintings are a study in light and darkness, physically and figuratively. I also like how age has dimmed most ancient masterpieces, while hers are still fresh and striking in their brilliance of color and detail giving them that subtle reminder of women’s lives as told by the old masters and now by a new master storyteller. I get her message and intent through her magnificent contribution to Art. I would say she brings awareness without a word. In vocal combat no matter how important, we find there are no listeners only shouters and no progress is made in the hearts of the angry. Here we have silence to hear our thoughts and feel the message in ways far deeper than the grate of sound in a defensive mind.
Thank you Dan!
Yes, Jesse’s work is new and exciting, yet based on the old and aged (as you have put so nicely)
Awareness without a word…. I agree. That is how I felt standing in front of these pieces.
Yet, many, many words come to mind when I sat dow to write this post.
“Here we have silence to hear our thoughts ” – ECHO!
Her work is powerful. Your comment is brilliant!
Thank you, Resa, for bringing this brilliant artist to us. I have a life long passion for art and dabble at it from time to time. My style is 10 year old boy with a box of fat crayons. It is the art of true artists that intrigue me so much. What if we spent our time exploring the arts of dance, music, sculpture, literature, poetry, and paint instead of picking fights and throwing buckets of slander around. This would be a pretty nice place to hang out for a lifetime.
I am living your “what if”.
I am a fortunate person. I got to be a costume designer in film, and now I get to be an artist.
OMG… I might be having a show for my Art Gowns and portraits!
I’ll be posting about it when it’s real.
Thank you Dan! xx
Oh! Best of luck with your show Resa, and keep living that dream so the rest of us can have hope.
Lol… I’m keeping on keeping on. Thanks Dan!
As with opera, poetry and soap operas . . . great art can leave you breathless. It will bring tears to your eyes and leave you with feelings of humility and gratitude.
As always, Resa . . you supplied.
Aww, thank you dear Marc!
MUAH!
MUAH!
Such interesting art. I love the stories and emotion incorporated into the art. I especially loved the the biblical ones. Excellent images. 🥰💜💙❌⭕
I sure agree Debby! How are you holding out in this snowy time? xoxoxoxoxo
Omg, I’m so tired of it. I’m tired of having to bundle up everytime I just have to go somewhere in and out of the car. It’s such a schlepp. Three more weeks and counting. 😁🥰💜💜❌⭕
What an unusual style. I couldn’t help but linger in each painting, somehow drawn into the composition. These are so full of emotion, I couldn’t help but “feel” them. Thanks for sharing the images and your thoughts about them, Resa. Fascinating post!
You are welcome, Diana!
There’s more to show, and a few of the pieces are even heavier duty female statements. I’m excited to share them all here and there over time. So much art, so little time!
Reinterpreted in such beautiful ways!
I agree Christy!
OMG.. I haven’t ad an email notification from WWI forever. Are you still blogging? I should go check!
A modern artist revisiting the classics. Perfect.
I fell in love with the art and its messaging. I’ve got more to share. My photo files are bloated with pics of all kinds of art.
In 4 weeks I’m going to a show at the AGO exhibiting photographs Paul McCartney took in 1963- 64, documenting the early rise of The Beatles.
Art is good. I suspect Art is one of the few human disciplines that -almost- never hurt anybody… The Greek concept of Beauty, Truth and Good…
I like that. Thanks Brian! xx
I looked her up. She’s definitely ‘modern’, she’s my eldest daughter’s age. Go for it, Girls… (Ooops. Can I still say ‘Girls’?) 😉
It’s a very well done, insightful post, Resa. Another talented woman artist. Hugs.
Thank you Teagan! I find her an impressive artist and an advocator for women. Hugs!
Oh, wow, what spectacular art and photos! In Mid-Stream really immersed my full attention; the drama there and emphasis on you, the viewer, piecing together the psychological aspects of what’s going on behind what is hinted at is mesmerizing. I imagine Jesse Mockrin’s art is something to behold in real life. I’m so glad to have had the chance to encounter her work here; your photography really does her work justice, Resa! 💜🖼️🌻
Mesmerizing is an excellent word to describe the entire show.
I wanted to stay at the show longer, but the gallery closes each night. LOL.
I’ll be back there in a few weeks to see Paul McCartney’s photos from 1963-64, and her show will still be on!
Thank you, dear Ada! ❦🕊 ~💙❤︎💙~ 🕊❦
Do you believe my typo’s? I swear I am not high. 😎🤗
Lol… Never mind.. it’s AI taking over to make you look stoopid! Or as I call it AS (artificial stoopidity)
Change of topic – Have you checked this out? https://www.resistandunsubscribe.com/
I’ve already dropped out of everything I can on the internet. The issues with the market is that is where all these working people have their entire retirement savings , esp the young people who are contributing from their pay. I suspect by the time they retire it is all they will have . The markets been way done and a lot if their money has been ost over the last couple of days because of that Morons bragging that AI will replace most jobs held by people now. He is a scourge on the world.