~Mike Pare / ‘blissed out’/atm

Mike Pare-blissed out

to my mind, with 9-11 still raw & with images of dearly held dogs
being separated from their owners, not to mention babies from their mothers,
in New Orleans, a trauma, which in no way could have been foreseen before the fact,
and then there’s the killing field in Iraq, which we all try to keep blocked from our heads,
just so that we can function,
and although, the art season has just kicked in, albeit fast & furious – there’s one show that
already defines, or is it defies, the national moment and landed magically right on
the mark, the Mike Pare, ‘blissed out’ offering at atm.

The whole show takes off, and reverberates within the moment: not just
the ideology, however one interprets it, not just the skilled drawing –
its a case of the whole being greater than the parts – though I’d like to own
any one of the pieces, and where painting the walls of the
gallery – and on paper yet, orange – is not just a cerebral conceit or a visual impulse,
but a vibe.

to see: photos from the Sept 8, 2005 opening

Mike Pare, ‘blissed out’, atm gallery 511 West 20th St – Sept 8 – Oct 8
above image scanned from the card, Mike Pare, bliss, 2005, graphite on paper, 50″ x 38″