The Art Out There: Chris Mars

Well, Halloween is coming up. So it's a perfect time to do an update on Chris Mars who continues to explore the horrific and the horrified. If you missed my previous posts (Jan. 2010 and July 2009) and are unfamiliar with his work, the one biographical detail that you need to know is that much of the horror in his imagery stems from witnessing his older bother's struggle with schizophrenia. What you don't really need to know, but is interesting for music fans, is that this is the same Chris Mars who was the drummer for the Replacements and who's recorded several successful solo albums as well.

These days he concentrates almost exclusively on the art. The art is about monsters. But monsters may not be as easily defined as you think. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that his art is about the other, the outsider, the ones who are truly different. Society does not abide the other. The other is a target, an outcast and unclean. I'll leave it to you to guess where Chris Mars' sympathies lie.

If you like what you see he has quite few events coming up in: Tucson AZ, Los Angeles CA, New York City and Cologne Germany plus a whole lot more gigs in 2011. See his exhibitions page on his website for details. Go to latest for his latest work, and browse through an astounding collection of work from the early '90s to the present under index. www.chrismarspublishing.com