Mike Pare

Meet Mike Pare. His artsy (and utterly predictable) mark is leaps away from high-school doodling finger smudgers, right? Though it is also light years away from any kind of forward movement, which is a waste, even for someone who's interest clearly lies in a decade past. I would expect the method of delivery to challenge him, and there is no sign of a struggle in these drawings. He is obviously very comfortable with the implementation of graphite.

I find myself wondering if Mike Pare has ever had a hallucinogenic drug experience. If so, how did he come to characterize it with these day glow swirlies stamped like a heart attack in the middle of his admittedly skillful drawings? I don't even understand how it can be: the suggestion of hallucination is so subtle, and yet glaring enough to chew your face off.

I am also very interested in the off-shade delineations segregating persons that would otherwise actually make contact with their neighbor on the 2-dimensional plane (i.e. black hair, faint white line, then a black coat begins). Is this some sort of subconscious commentary or just a last ditch effort to make sure the eye is very clear where individual elements cease? How very un-collective-unconscious/inter-connectedness of you, Mike Pare!

That said, I would probably still hang one (any!) of these in my apartment. They are, after all, easy on the eye.



But are these Mandalas... really?