7:42 P.M.: The Art of Chris Mars

"This is the work of Chris Mars. If you are not yet familiar with this artist I promise you will not forget him. This work will take you on the most fascinating detour. Take your time. Take in the details..."

This is how I would greet visitors who came to an exhibition of Chris Mars paintings at my gallery. To have one of his meticulously rendered paintings in front of you is an extraordinary experience; an entire gallery filled with Mars's genius is riveting! Mars's work is for those with socio-civic maturity, for those who are large-hearted. Fans of his work will find their way through a maze of visual contradictions to see beauty in those pleading eyes. It is rare to find an artist that can take you on an emotional and intellectual trip the way Mars does.

The eyes are his signature, yet Mars's work is far from formulaic. Each piece tells a unique story. A visual opera, his paintings sing of longing, torment, violence or disconnectedness. His commentary is rich; it speaks of socio-psychic trials and their effects on the human condition. These are true tales laced with misfortune, confusion, frustration or sorrow. We can relate to the pain or at least sympathize with it and understand that hope and healing are possible, because Mars shows us these as well. It happens when our own perception of beauty becomes undistorted. When you find these kinds of raw emotions in a Mars painting you might feel that you cannot breathe, but you do, and you keep living out of obligation to the life you were gifted. His characters plead with the viewer for comfort. The connection is so intimate. Chris also has the ability to make you feel admiration for his subjects. These are heroes to Chris Mars. They limp along through life better than you and I might, had we been dealt their hand. Mars's compositions possess a profound otherworldliness. His people are placed in rooms or landscapes that appear to be centuries old. As a viewer you get the sense that you are looking into a time capsule-the moments he portrays are still alive and vivid. There is life in the skin and the eyes, created from a palette of colors that you would find inside the human body. He paints many layers of skin, some with bile-colored yellow-greens that are juxtaposed with blood red lips, layered again with purple. Chris uses complementary colors side by side and this makes his subjects vibrate-an old Flemish technique that Mars has mastered.

Even the smallest of his paintings are a decadent piece of chocolate for the viewer. He is a genius, creating paintings that are emotional magnets. They pull us into his very personal yet universal stories. Chris Mars is truly one of the great painters of our time. His work adds to our understanding of the complex world in which we live. Enter the gallery created in this volume, and be moved.

-Kellie Rae Theiss, Owner & Director of the Kellie Rae Theiss Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota 1996-2004