JB BURKE

STEP RIGHT UP

solo exhibition

August 7th - 26th, 2026

Opening Reception: Friday, August 7th, 2026 ​

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Arch Enemy Arts presents STEP RIGHT UP, our second solo feature with JB Burke and a collection that brings the artist’s masterful, obsessive, and sharp-edged colored pencil skills to a glowing world centered on the vintage circus. Twelve new drawings—rendered with precision that borders on sorcery—portray skeletal seers and ringleaders, funfair ‘easy meals,’ clowns, magicians, and carnival glass. Imagined at the intersection of vintage Americana and the macabre reality of the traveling midway show, Burke tells us the magic of this world is tied up in the misdirection of the circus itself. The bright, waxy sheen and eye-popping realism distracts us with spectacular spectacle. Absorbed, we unwittingly STEP RIGHT UP to the grotesque horror and unsettling history of the circus sideshow. 

 

“Behind the velvet curtains and the smell of toasted peanuts lies a shadow that never leaves the ring. These drawings invite you into a world of early 20th-century spectacle, where the sawdust is stained and the laughter is short-lived. A place of curated wonder, the traveling midway was also a transient world of ‘outsiders’ trying to find a rare, vital sense of community and safety. Such ‘freak shows’ reached their height at the turn of the century, with audiences flocking to see travelling cabinets of human curiosities. Sometimes, the 'exhibits' were seen as a comment on how close one could come to death without really being dead. Here, however, the skeleton is not a harbinger of death, it is a shared vessel that represents all of us and our shared journey through life.” - JB Burke

 

JB Burke (b. 1976) is based in Charlotte, North Caroline. She received her MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is Associate Professor of Fine Arts at UNC College of Arts and Architecture. Burke began showing with Arch Enemy Arts after submitting to our 2024 Spotlight Showcase, and we are proud to present her latest collection, STEP RIGHT UP, her second feature with the gallery. 

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STEP RIGHT UP will be on view from August 7th - 30th, 2026
Sold works will begin to ship the week starting September 6th, unless other rush shipping arrangements have been made. 

Items marked with a red dot have already been sold.

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