On View: Mike Parillo and Ashkan Honarvar at CES Contemporary

Though Mike Parillo’s work appears to be a cacophony of colors at a first glance, the artist’s abstract oeuvre is executed with the tightness of illustration. His latest series of camouflage-like paintings for his solo show, “Just the Tip” at LA’s CES Contemporary, is a wild display of peacock tail hues. The colors take on cloud-like shapes or furry textures, rendered with precise line work that evokes early cartoons. The self-taught Parillo got his start as a commercial illustrator for snowboarding companies in the early ’90s and his paintings certainly reverberate with the energy of extreme sports culture and imagery.

In CES Contemporary’s second space, Ashkan Honarvar (whose photography we previously covered here) presents a series of collages titled “Invisible Lines.” Set against white backgrounds, his bold, graphic work probes the ways one’s body can be exploited by others or used as a site of self-reflection. Several of the pieces show abstracted limbs in pale, flesh-toned knots of body parts, alluding to the ways the body can be objectified. Another piece, which shows a soldier’s body neatly cut into several pieces, speaks out on the destruction of war. Both “Just the Tip” and “Invisible Lines” are on view through June 21. Take a look at some work from the two shows below.

Mike Parillo:

Ashkan Honarvar:

View of the gallery install.