New Mexico based Mike Pare is interested in subcultures and creates paper-based works that expand the narrative of such intense but fringe movements.

For his first solo show titled New Believers at Springfield's Ditch Projects Pare has chosen the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Movement, which famously usurped the small Oregon town of Antelope, as his starting off point.

"In this work, constellations of Rajneesh's narrative expand beyond rational investigation, and mutate into entirely new forms.

Rajneesh Things is an artwork in the form of an open edition tabloid Newspaper. The twelve page black and white tabloid contains articles, artwork, and designs based in investigations of the material culture of the Rajneesh Movement. Modeled after the original movement publication Rajneesh Times, Pare's newspaper visually mimics the style of underground press publications of the 1970s and 80s. The work functions as a platform for art making and journalism, but also serves as a coded fictional text and an object of material culture itself capable of everyday dissemination through its expendable form as a free paper. Free copies will be available at the exhibition.

The body of work entitled Devotional Goods is an exploration of material anomalies and the potential of art practice transcending a topic. working with the familiar drawing materials of graphite and paper, Pare creates large dark tie-dyed pieces that hint at melancholy and decay even as they radiate intense acid-drenched colors."


Ditch Projects: Mike Pare | New Believers
303 S. 5th Avenue #165 | Springfield OR 97477
Exhibition dates: April 28 - May 19, 2012
Opening reception: Saturday, April 28, 7pm - 10pm Gallery hours: Saturdays 12 - 4 | info@ditchprojects.com