The cerebral paintings of Chris Mars pack a new show at Copro Gallery, with a collection of surreal works that very in both size and scope. His new solo effort kicks off on May 11 and runs through June 1. (Mars was last featured on HiFructose.com here and here.) Works such as “Relativity” (below) show the artist’s knack for embedding visages in the contours of structures.
“Chris’s work is influenced and inspired by his brother Joe’s experiences with mental illness, for which Joe was periodically institutionalized during Chris’s childhood, and with which Joe continues to struggle,” a recent bio says. “The sensitivity and empathy Chris developed relative to these experiences are evident in his visual art, which serves to raise awareness of the various issues associated with mental illness and its treatment, as well as confronting xenophobia in its various social and psychological incarnations.”
See more works from the show below.
The wild public works of muralist 
A riot cop covered in flames in the middle of the street, Claude Monet's poppies swallowed by a hole in the sky, and a large ship tearing up the Earth's surface, leaving a bloody scar behind it- these are images 