Press Release:

Chris Mars Publishing and Billy Shire Fine Arts Press are proud to announce the June release of 'Tolerance,' the debut monograph by artist and former musician Chris Mars. Tolerance (160 pages, apx. 12×10") is a green and fair-trade book featuring more than 150 paintings and numerous essays by the artist.

Rock star, recluse, brother, activist. Artist. Chris Mars, darling of the Low-Brow movement and Juxtapoz regular. His work graces the haloed halls of museums throughout America and is tattooed on calves and biceps throughout the world. Tolerance, the long-awaited collection of his work.   

In the beginning…

Chris Mars was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1961 to parents Constance and Leroy Mars. He is the youngest of seven children. Mars's eldest brother Joe suffered a so-called Nervous Breakdown in 1966 and was institutionalized at St. Cloud Mental Hospital. The impact of that event, along with Joe's life-long struggle with Schizophrenia, set the groundwork for a life's mission of championing society's downtrodden and outcast.

In the middle…

Chris Mars was a founding member of the seminal Indy/Punk band The Replacements. Mars left shortly before the band's early 90s demise, and went on to record four critically acclaimed solo albums. Though out his years as a musician, Mars was always drawing, painting. Pastels on paper.  Ink on napkins. A suitcase filled with pencils and sketchbooks. Always. Calling him.    

All leading up to…

Mars' technical control is breathtaking. His Social Expressionist paintings contain the meticulous detail of Salvador Dali, the political incisiveness of Otto Dix, and the emotional gut-punch of Francis Bacon. His work has been exhibited in numerous museums including The American Visionary Art Museum, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Weisman Art Museum, The Longview Museum of Art, The Erie Art Museum, The Tweed, The Steensland and the Minnesota History Center, among others. Several of these institutions and others hold work in their permanent collection. Exhibitions at The Laguna Art Museum, Mesa Contemporary Arts, The Phipps Center for the Arts, Erie and Longview are scheduled through 2010.   

Now:

Mars hopes his work causes the viewer to question the nature of evaluation and labels, be it by investigating the meaning of beauty, or by casting aside the exclusion of the meek, the forgotten, or the enemy. Like many artists, Mars seeks to know Truth.  In his canvases are villains and angels, though one's initial demarcation may, as in life, prove false.

Tolerance features over 150 paintings, printed in accordance with the artist's social conscience. Says Mars: "It's a 'green' book. Published using vegetable-based inks, on recycled, bleach-free paper. It was not made by slaves, the printing costs do not sponsor State tyranny, no child's hands will have sewn the binding. It's green and it's fair-trade.  It took a while to make that happen. I think I'm as proud of that as I am of the work inside it."

Tolerance will be released in June, and will be followed by an exhibit and signing at Billy Shire Fine Arts (Los Angeles) in September. 

 Above Right - 'Tolerence' Cover

Below Right - 'A Soother for Dwayne' by Chris Mars

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