Cell Project Space

Mike Paré's large-scale graphite renderings of counterculture crowds-be-ins, protests, guerilla theater-communicate both the hope and desperation of the 1960s; the social upheaval and communal bliss. It is the timelessness of the depicted events, rather than their commemoration, however, that most interests Paré. Though decades have passed, the ideals that were cultivated then continue to sprout and grow. Rock concerts, Yippie sit-ins, and folk festivals are familiar territory for Paré. Florescent-pigmented objects hover above his figures as if patiently awaiting something as elusive as change. Within his more recent video work geometric lines are superimposed above the gathering, expanding outwardly, eliciting a sense of psychic space outside the journalistic plane. In all his works he engages in the transcendental ideals of 'a group'. Paré lives and works in Brooklyn NYC. Solo exhibitions include 'Blissed Out' at ATM Gallery, NYC, 'Works on Paper' at Mark Moore Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 'White Room Project', at White Columns, NYC. He has been included in international group shows such as 'Awakening of My Secret Brother', Hiromi Yoshii, Tokyo, Japan, 'Hot and Cold #3', Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 'Artists of Invention': A Century of CCA, Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA, 'Square Root of Drawing', Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, Ireland, 'Cosmic Wonder', Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, 'Stick/Figure drawing show', MAMA showroom, Rotterdam, 'Kult 48', Deitch Projects, Brooklyn, NY, 'Axxxpresssunizm', Vilma Gold, London.