While many depictions of nature involve happy critters or placid landscapes, Mu Pan’s new series of paintings are rife with rage. The new body of work Pan will present for his solo show, “One Inch Punch,” at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica depicts the struggle to survive when conditions become extreme. Granted, though wild animals hunt and kill, the creatures in Pan’s work seem to be part of an allegory for human warfare. After all, how many frog armies are there staging organized battles? Pan’s paintings hold up a mirror to human civilizations, asking us to consider the brutal legacy of colonialism and war that continues to shape the world. “One Inch Punch” opens on May 17 and will be on view through June 7.
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