TOLERANCE

By. Chris Mars

 

The debut monograph from Chris Mars, Featuring 159 full color paintings, numerous essays by the artist, and introduction by Julius Marcia, the book, published by Billy Shire Fine Arts Press/Last Gasp is printed in democratic South Korea on recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks and varnish..

 

I was first introduced to Mars' brilliantly, grotesque paintings back in 2007 while working for a Punk rock magazine. I was doing Reviews and interviews at the time. I had no idea where to start. In this age where your favorite artists where at your finger tips, the internet was my only choice. I have always been insanely intrigued by the oddities and abnormalities in life and art alike. So when I heard about this brilliant artist that painted the very thing I adored, I just had to interview him. To date that interview was my very first.To be able to review his work, I received a fresh off the press copy of 'Tolerance' and it changed my life. The flawless, highly detailed monstrosities, of Mars paintings touched me beyond words. The deformed, mangled beings in his paintings are not just random either. His muse is his older brother, who suffers from Schizophrenia, and sadly spends his days in a mental hospital. In Mars' painting, one will usually see a red medical symbol, indicating this very muse rumor to be true. I think of Mar's as a genius. Period. His work is Flawless, and underrated.

 

Chris used to be the drummer for the band the Replacements, only to give up music to dedicate his life to art.An artist with his kind of talent has every right to be pretentious, however, Chris is not in the slightest. Chris even let me use his art as my book cover. Mars is the kind of artist that only comes around once a century. Never have I fallen in love with a painting as I have with Chris' The dark, morbidity, and morphed muted feel, can not help but make me happy and inspire me to create my own dark art with words. 'Tolerance' is a book I want two of just so I can frame and hang them up as decor in my living space. He also made a short and eerie film, proving just how multi- talented this man truly is! I can not really compare him to any other well know artist, except perhaps Mark Ryden, but even Ryden's stuff looks like mere doodles compared to the work of Chris Mars.

 

Kim Acrylic

 

 

( APA: Chris Mars Publishing. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.chrismarspublishing.com/ecommerce/proddetail.asp?prod=01Tolerance