Palo’s works make use of bright playful colors and oval-faced figures that are staples in the entertainment fare of this generation weaned on comic books, manga, and anime. At the outset the viewer is lured into this familiar terrain but once he takes that step forward, he gets an unexpected jolt – there is none of the “cuteness” that is the hallmark of these much-coveted objects. They are amused commentaries on current urban living.

In “Aftermath of War The Ruins,” the figures are shockingly stiff and detached, looking like they were rendered on flat surfaces and the heady blue clouds transform into unexpected fumes. Although the subject is grimly serious, Palo still succeeds in evoking smiles from his viewers.

A pervading sense of doom also permeates Palo’s canvases even when the figures are engaged in a seemingly fun activity such as that depicted in “Videoke Time with Michael The Big Giy, Hairball and The Cat Princess,” the very anti-thesis of what their creators intended them to be