Brooklyn’s McCaig Welles Gallery is pleased to present Les Enfants Diabolique the latest installment by artist Michael Mararian, otherwise known as M. Mararian’s Inky Dreadfuls. It is his first solo exhibition with the gallery. The contemporary drawings offer a discerning New York audience commentary on consumerism, fashion, popular culture and pop icons, and their oft-parasitic affect on the addictive personality of American society. The show will commence with an opening reception of December 12, 2008 and run through February 2, 2009.

With the global economy falling faster than a line of dominos, everyone’s heads are spinning as they look for an explanation, a cause, to offer some sort of solace in the grim wake of Wall St’s meltdown. Enter Les Enfants Diabolique. M. Mararian’s Inky Dreadfuls explore the devastating effects our materialistic and consumer-driven society has had on our collective identity. Mararian’s sharp color contrasts paired with unnerving facial expressions bring the viewer to an immediate halt. The bright, saturated aqua and yellow colors create a false sense of cheerfulness, while the deep reds stir corporal emotions.

By having infants and young children as the main characters in this series, Mararian’s Inky Dreadfuls symbolically represent how we, as human beings, are products of society. We are vehicles for fashion to display its gluttonous agenda and indulgent advertisements. The “wicked children” are clothed in black t-shirts some with Charles Manson and The Misfits on the front; one even dons a Third Reich type hat while holding a hand grenade in one hand and its pin in the other. The characters’ maniacal smiles and menacing eyes allude to a fiendish appetite with no prospect of being satiated. An ironic tone is cast on several pieces whose backgrounds recall 1960s pop-inspired floral prints. Through the clear tension between the innocent, “flower-power” attitude and blatant hunger for violence, M.Mararian creates a new twist on the Americana aesthetic. His redefinition of the wholesome American self-image provides an honest outlook on the 21st century’s cultural context. Only through self-awareness comes change.