Mars’s newest paintings address the demons of mental illness, yet they dig through the ugliness to find something beautiful within. That is, they achieve the feat of being simultaneously repellent and alluring: His depictions of monsters are horrific on the surface, but rendered in such rich detail and glowing colors that their humanity cannot be denied. Each painting is tied intimately to Mars’s relationship with his brother, who struggles with schizophrenia, and the artist’s words about his intentions are as eloquent as the paintings themselves, which have titles like A Pledge of Empathy Before Judgment. “There is free will and there is circumstance,” he writes. “I exercise the former so that we consider the latter, and thus may come to know both beauty and mercy.” 400 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-339-1094; www.theissgallery.com
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