Le carré noir is pleased to present CAN YOU SEE THE MOON FROM THE BELLY OF A BEAR ? a soloexhibition
by John Mascaro.
The artist, who was born in New York State and lives in Paris, takes his wide-ranging points of reference
from architecture, physics, and industrial engineering, along with a touch of native American
legend (he was raised in an area called The Mohawk Valley).
Mascaro works through elements within these fields, arriving at conflated mutations. Atypical
structures and situations emerge within proverbial spaces that provide a sense of recognition.
This universality, the familiar, perhaps a blue sky above green grass, act as a point of entry into
otherwise cryptic scenes. Within these scenes we find visually believable yet implausible structures,
situations, or juxtapositions painted with thick, dripping paint; the residual of a manic designer,
or pseudo-architect hoping to color the world anew. Eschewing any and all utopian sympathies,
remaining for the artist is what he finally believes to be the apex of his pointless pursuit of such
endeavors - a painting. With the painterly obsessiveness consecrating each work, theres clearly
no intended humour or irony.

That the artists fanatical research resolves itself into what he believes to be a meaningless, yet
essential endeavor, offers a glimpse of what might be at the crux of each work. His process follows
methods similar to those of an engineer; he realises a need, or discovers a project; he then works
tirelessly in pursuit of a solution; sketches are made, research is conducted, computations are
calculated, and models are digitized. What remains to be seen as the residue of these Don Quixote-
esque engineering adventures are the paintings. The paintings translate spellbound qualities of
discovery, reminiscent of when a child asks an unanswerable question, devoid of logical interpretation.