Mike Paré
(Best of the Last 50 Years)
Reception: 6-8pm November 8, 2019
Exhibition: November 8 – December 21, 2019
The Green Gallery East
1500 N Farwell Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53202
✸
Aroma Arts
An Incense-Making Workshop with Mike Paré
Workshop: 1-4pm November 10, 2019
tickets available at
Lynden Sculpture Garden
2145 West Brown Deer Road
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
✸
Gnarrenschiff & EasyJammer (Mike Paré & Guests)
Performance: time TBD December 13, 2019
tickets available at
Acme Records
2341 S Kinnickinnic Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53207
✸
Black Light Folk Festival Pt. III
Happening: December 14, 2019
The Green Gallery West
3849 N Palmer St
Milwaukee, WI 53212
Spring 1969: Niles Canyon, California: The Artist is conceived by two teenagers on LSD.
Dec 6 1969: Livermore, California: Altamont Free Concert. Rolling Stones. Hells Angels. The Artist’s teenage father is present.
Dec 8 1969: Daly City, California. The Artist is born.
1974: Niles, California: The Artist first experiences live amplified music at a biker party.
1976: Livermore, California: The Artist is exposed to ZAP comix.
1984: Pleasanton California, the Artist purchases his first Skateboard, a G&S Side Cut.
1984: Pleasanton: The Artist has his first of numerous encounters with cops.
1985: Bassist for Rabid Lassie.
1985: Dublin, California: Dosed by a stranger with his face painted like the American Flag.
1987: Eugene, Oregon: First Grateful Dead Show.
1988: Oakland, California: Bassist for Sachiko Kanenobu.
1990: Oakland: Founding member of performance group, Chixdigme
1997: San Francisco: First solo exhibit, World Sports, at ESP Gallery
1997: The Artist relocates to New York City.
Sept 11 2001: The Artist is in Berlin.
2003: First Solo Show in New York, Black Light Folk Festival, at ATM Gallery. Founded The Joints, a folk rock vocal group.
2005: Guitarist for Roxy Pain.
2009: The Artist relocates to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
2012: Santa Fe: Given the name Prem Anand Rajan as a devotee of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
2012: The Artist relocates to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
2014: Australia: Macmillan’s High School Geography Textbooks incorporate The Artist’s text/video piece about tripping in California canyons, Teenage Geography 2003.
2016: Milwaukee: Founded Zouz Natural Incense
2017: Milwaukee: Co-Founded conceptual bookstore Mushroom Books with Michael Seidel
2019: Milwaukee: Mike Paré Best of the last 50 Years at The Green Gallery
My work exists in the boundaries between art worlds and other forms of cultural expression- realms of new spirituality, new music, and new exchanges. As an artist I am not merely an observer or critic of subcultures, I am also a participant and instigator. I’m fascinated with the material culture of marginal thought. Such inquiries lead me to materials and activities outside my core practice of drawing. I’m doing these non-studio activities because they engage the public in ideas about aesthetics in a way that is accessible through direct exchange, and at the same time these activities cultivate my own research. As people discard commodified art products in favor of authentic aesthetic experiences, there is a democratic story to share about the discoveries of material culture and our personal connections with ideas and each other. Drawings are the most immediate way for me to tell these stories with magical ambivalence and humor.
1969 Niles Canyon—There is a place in Northern California called the Secret Sidewalk. It is near the mouth of a canyon in Niles. The “sidewalk” is actually a neglected aqueduct that runs through the canyon, not far from the railroad. It is the ideal location for teenagers to hang out, start bonfires and party. It is covered in generations of spray paint and broken glass. There are a variety of legends that come from this place: a lair for a historic Mexican horse thief gang, a white witch, a troll, ufos, biker gangs, druid cults and secret military operations. In early 1969, two teenagers on acid made love there, and ten months later I was born.
2012 Santa Fe—As a longtime devotee of the guru, she had amassed a large collection of Rajneesh Things. She showed me books, personal papers, his stereo system, and one of his dazzling outfits - a dark blue polyester robe with cuffed puffy sleeves, shoulder pads and silver embellishments -which she laid out on the bed before me. Later, I sat on her carpeted bedroom floor. At the foot of her bed was a bookshelf with an object in a box that was not defined by her, but described only as “something very special to Bhagwan.” I was instructed to close my eyes and to go into a meditative state. As I sat there for a few minutes, I did feel a certain warmth, a glow coming from the hidden object before me. She moved about the room while my eyes were closed. A wooden Mala was placed around my neck. And then I felt her placing the wooly hat on my head. I opened my eyes and she said, “that is the guru’s hat!” and then she said, “Your name is Prem Anand Rajan, let’s go find out what it means.”