One of the shows that I have been waiting to see for the past few months is the upcoming solo exhibition of Chris Mars. The show, In Preparation of Barrier Transcendence will take place at the Billy Shire Fine Arts this coming December 12th and will run until January 2nd 2010. As Chris states in his bio ““It is my intent to instigate the viewer to look beyond surface attributes be they attributes of my paintings or of society at large. I seek through my work to break down the tendency that exists to prejudge and to move away from xenophobia..” One of the things that draws me to Mars’ work is that he doesn’t shy away from the social and political issues that we are currently dealing with. Art is an effective way of showing the viewer what the world around them might actually be like, the truths no matter how scary they might be. Creating imagery that is so enjoyable to look at makes digesting these truths effortless. The show has over 20 paintings, a nice variety of larger and smaller 9″ x 11″ portraits, one of which entitled “The Upriser” (shown first) reminds me of the iconic photograph of Sharbat Gula on the cover of National Geographic in 1985. I am a big fan of his smaller portrait work, and do hope that he one day decides to release a limited edition run of one of them.

Check out the full show here: Chris Mars @ Billy Shire Fine Arts

Here is the weekly rundown of art shows that will be taking opening up.

Friday:
Thinkspace Gallery will have three shows opening, “Farewell Avery” from Esao Andrews, “Mary In BronxZooLand” from Tony Philippou and in the project room will be Tempo Momento” from Joshua Mays

Halogen Gallery will open the last solo show from Kelly Vivanco for the next year, the show is selling out fast

Roq la Rue will have new works from Ana Bagayan and Ryan Heshka

Strychnin Gallery will open “Garden Of The Dispossessed” with all new works from David Hochbaum

Saturday:
101 Exhibit will host “Insomious” featuring new works from Jason Shawn Alexander

Gallery Nucleus will open “October Shadows” (presented by Nucleus and Creature Features) featuring work by Cam De Leon, Chet Zar, Gris Grimly, Jordu Schell, Miles Teves, Travis Louie, William Basso and more

The Beyond Eden Art Fair will be starting up. This is a multi-gallery event, if your in the area this is one event not to miss.

Billy Shire Fine Art will open “Hubris” featuring new works by Frank Kozik

Shooting Gallery will open a show with works from C3, Kmndz & Akira. Right next door at White Walls will be the “The Stencil Show” with art from Chris Stain, Adam 5100, Tes One, Ernesto Yerena, Casey Gray and David Soukup

Distinction Art will open “Striptease”, with art from Brian Viveros, Angelique Houtkamp, N.C. Winters, Molly Crabapple, Saratoga Sake and more

Here is a rundown of some of the shows that will be opening this weekend.

Friday:
Thinkspace Gallery will have “Vain Remains” with new work from Camilla d’Errico and Caia Koopman. In the project room: “New Works On Paper” featuring new works by Lilly Piri, Fumi Nakamura, & Yuka Yamaguchi. Fresh Faces series: Nathan Deyoung with “Windows & Mirrors”.

Saturday:
Honor Fraser will host “Barberadise” with new works from Kenny Scharf

Jonathan Levine Gallery will open “Ludovico Aversion Therapy” from D*Face & “As Cold As They Come” from Mark Dean Veca.

Billy Shire Fine Arts: “Shag Swapmeet”, a one day event with originals, prints and more

Kinsey/Desforges will open “After the Gold Rush” from Angelika J. Trojnarski

Lebasse Projects has two shows opening, “Softly Encompassing the Womb” with new works from Edwin Ushiro and “Idealistically Hypocritical 3” from Ryuichi Ogino

Merry Karnowsky Gallery will open “The Hydra of Babylon” featuring all new works by Camille Rose Garcia

Last Rites Gallery will open two exhibitions, “Domestic Terror” by Scott G Brooks and “Pepto Dismal” by Jeff McMillan

Shooting Gallery opens “Terrestrial Syndrome” with new work from Erik Otto and Kevin E. Taylor.
Then right next door at White Walls is “The Future Is So Bright” new works by Albert Reyes and “Searching by flashlight, for the bright spots on your brain, and such” by Rich Jacobs

There are some really stellar shows happening this weekend.

“Uncommon Gardens” opens this Friday at Thinkspace in LA. It’s a group show that features work by Caia Koopman, Kelly Vivanco, Lilly Piri & Catherine Brooks, and Kris Chau is in the project room. The show online to check out, there are a lot of great pieces and a good majority of them have sold so far. Check it out: Thinkspace Gallery

This Saturday at the Billy Shire Fine Arts Gallery there are two shows opening, Scott Musgrove and Liz McGrath. The work from both of these artists look amazing, Liz has all new watercolor works and from the looks of it the show has sold out! Scott Musgrove has sold a huge amount of work as well. Both of these shows are online so head on over and check em out. Billy Shire Fine Arts

At the White Walls Gallery in Sf there is a dual show with AJ Fosik and Kelsey Brooks. The show looks pretty good, and the work is online for your viewing. White Walls Gallery SF

“Pop Pollution” opens at the Lab 101 Gallery this Saturday. It features “small” artworks by Isaac Bushkin, Matt Stallings & Jacob McClure. Check it out Lab 101

“La Femme” is a group show that opens this Saturday at the Gallery Nucleus. It features work by
Marguerite Sauvage, Brandi Milne, Mari Inukai, Julie West, Amy Sol, Kukula, Junko Mizuno and many others. Check it out here: Gallery Nucleus

And the big one this weekend is at the Copro Nason Gallery. Three solo shows, Luke Chueh with “She’s my Heroin(e)”, Mari Inukai with “Infiltration” and Chet Zar with “We Are the Shadows”. I really dig the work by Mari Inukai and the new work from Chet is quite amazing. I see he is using some new colors in his works and I think it looks great. All three shows are online for you to check out. Copro Nason Gallery