TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – You may recognize their calling card: a large sign standing tall on Reynolds Road reading \u201cMr. Atomic.\u201d Behind that name are two identical twin painters from Toledo.<\/p>\n
Dozens of paintings pack a studio on the top floor of the Common Space Community Center. Every one of them is signed under one nuclear name: Mr. Atomic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen somebody recognizes us on the streets and addresses us as Mr. Atomic, I don\u2019t hesitate at all in my response, because I am, we are that person,\u201d said Mark Kersey, who is one-half of Mr. Atomic.<\/p>\n
The other half is his identical twin, Michael Kersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the sour, I\u2019m the sweet. He\u2019s the Lennon, I\u2019m the McCartney,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n
The name Mr. Atomic came from the twins\u2019 60s pop culture influences, like comic books and sci-fi movies. The moniker gave them the freedom to be unconventional.<\/p>\n
No two paintings are the same. The only common thread between the variety of subjects and styles are bright colors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can think it, we can paint it,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n
The twins are collaborators, but not in the traditional sense. Each twin makes his own paintings, but they do offer each other advice and critiques on their paintings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s benefited our art because two heads are better than one,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n
The two have a bevy of experience. Mark and Michael each have spent more than 50 years as artists.<\/p>\n
For a time, they took their talents to New York City. The twins worked on projects for a variety of companies including Marvel Comics and Apple Records.<\/p>\n
The latter was a dream because The Beatles, who owned the record company, are Mark and Michael\u2019s biggest inspirations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were always challenging themselves to do something different,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody could ever accuse them of not being creative; they were extremely creative,\u201d Michael added.<\/p>\n
That same work ethic drives the painters. No two paintings are alike.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think time is short in a way, and whatever I can entrust to a canvas is something that I had within me that now can be seen in graphic form,\u201d Mark said \u201cAnd I feel like I\u2019ve expanded and continued to expand within myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
After hitting the pavement in NYC, the twins have made their way back to Toledo.<\/p>\n
A giant Mr. Atomic sign sits outside the building where they have their studio. It\u2019s become well-known in Toledo. At one time, it maybe got too much attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came to work in the parking lot, and we noticed something was missing. Not the building, but the sign,\u201d Michael said, recalling a theft that happened about seven years ago.<\/p>\n
The brothers never figured out what happened to the stolen sign. A second, stronger 400-pound version now stands in its place.<\/p>\n
Michael and Mark hope the sign is there for as long as they stay in Toledo.<\/p>\n
The twins continue to make art that is bright, unique and 100% atomic.<\/p>\n
For more information about Mr. Atomic\u2019s art, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Latest Local News<\/a> | First Alert Weather<\/a> | Crime<\/a> | National<\/a> | 13abc Originals<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright 2026 WTVG. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – You may recognize their calling card: a large sign standing tall on Reynolds Road…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,243091,308,93,61,60,243089,243087,243088,243079,243090,243084,243080,243081,243082,243083,243086,243085],"class_list":["post-576408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-common-space-community-center","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mark-kersey","tag-michael-kersey","tag-mike-kersey","tag-mr-atomic","tag-mr-atomic-art-studio","tag-mr-atomic-sign","tag-mr-atomic-toledo","tag-toledo-art","tag-toledo-artists","tag-toledo-ohio","tag-what-is-mr-atomic","tag-who-is-mr-atomic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}