"Inspiration or Profession" was an exhibition of works of Wrocław Fine Arts Academy students in nearby Świdnica. I was struck by the proposal and title and so applied. I exhibited two works from the States of the Mind series and also made a work of my own especially for the open call.

I painted a piece called "Overnight Celebrity". It was an oil on canvas based on a photograph of Basqiuat taken by Lizzie Himmel. I wanted to approach the proposal from the angle that the ultimate goal for an artist is for his inspiration to also be his profession. Basquiat although not formally educated had an immense knowledge of art history and was incredibly creative.

The venue was incredibly beautiful and it was exciting to have a first group show with the Academy. The exhibition generated a great pubic interest as well as that of families and friends of the students.

Samson and Delilah by Rubens is one of my favourite pieces in the National Gallery. I could stare at it and copy it for hours admiring the soft brushwork. When I heard Rubens was being shown in Wrocław, naturally, I had to go.

Although my favourite painting wasn't there, I truly discovered Rubens from a different angle thanks to the exhibition. The signature oil on canvas brushwork and storytelling was still present (see below: "The Death of Seneca").

However, a range of other mediums was present, for example prints (see below:).

Or tapestries such as "The Death of Roman Consul Decius Mus", a tapestry by the Workshop of Frans van der Hecke, after cartons designed by Peter Paul Rubens in 1616-1618.

The exhibition also provided a lot of information on Rubens' life, work and biography.

The ritual didn’t disappoint. I was struck by the outright praying to machines and this reminded me of the e/acc movement, a lot of propellers wish to see a machine god. There was an interesting element of praying to the network and algorithms themselves.

​Some of the prayer methods reminded me of Catholic mass. The artist rightly pointed out that many elements of mass were borrowed from pagans.

The painting being previewed from the series had many layers of meaning as well as execution. A bottom coating of computer hard drives slowly revealed patterns and from the right angle a woman’s face.

​Technology is at its most lethal when ignored and I was certainly glad to see artists embracing it and letting it be understood on subconscious and spiritual levels.

We first saw it with the formula one models getting cancelled. The assassination of the “male gaze” not by feminists who want to protect female spaces or mock pseudo “red pill” meninists. Not by Christians who believe we should ban porn and not have sex outside marriage. No. These women claim they simultaneously want to victimize and empower us. That they can now tell models and show business personalities how to act and how to dress. But with absolutely no issue with men sharing women’s spaces or competing in women’s sports (most actual transgender people don’t want this).

Upon my interaction with intersectional feminists some of them seemed to preach sexual liberation led to power. No doubt. But women who understand the male gaze enjoy it, and don’t do it to overpower men.

This was quickly followed by victimization of the women they so claim to admire. Attempts to destroy them or vilify and destroy the men who put them in that position. The anti-sex movement didn’t come from the right. It came from the postmodern left.

Women like Bianca Censori understand and enjoy the “male gaze”. A model who is monogamous with one man and poses nude isn’t a wh*re even by the most conservative Christian standards. It’s been done before. This is more apparent in Hip Hop culture and most women in show business do it more subtly.

We also see a common socialist tendency so called “doszukiwanie się patologii” forcibly searching for and ultimately creating dysfunction in influential figures and thinkers that don’t tow the party line. This is a process which follows the conflict theory on a micro-scale. Family members and friends are turned against each other and convinced to separate and fight, eventually manifesting the dysfunction they hoped for. Most individuals do not recover from this.

And quickly the women-support-women movement is shown as to what it really is. Seize the means of production. Subvert and destroy the male gaze. And ultimately, what they hate the most. Beauty.

*****

“Przejęcie środków męskiego spojrzenia”


Na początku widzieliśmy to kiedy modelki Formuły 1 były kancelowane (ang: “cancelled”). Zamach na “męskie spojrzenie” nie przez feministki, które chcą ochronić przestrzenie dla kobiet lub drwić z meninistycznych pseudo “red pillowców”. Nie przez Chrześcijanów, którzy zakazują pornografię i współżycie poza ślubem. Nie. Te kobiety twierdzą, że chcą na raz zrobić z nas ofiary i dać nam władzę (ang: “empower”). Że mają prawo mówić modelkom i ludziom show biznesu jak się zachowywać i jak się ubierać. Ale nie mają problemu aby pozwalać mężczyznom dzielić prywatne przestrzenie z kobietami lub konkurować w kobiecych sportach (nie jest to nawet to co większość osób transpłciowych chce).


W moich interakcjach z intersekcjonalnymi feministkami wiele z nich głosiło, że wyzwolenie seksualne prowadzi do władzy. Napewno. Ale kobiety, które rozumieją “męskie spojrzenie” szukają go dla przyjemność i nie robią tego aby obezwładniać mężczyzn.


To szybko zmieniło się w robienie ofiar z kobiet, których niby tak podziwiały. Ruch anty-seks nie przybył z prawicy tylko z postmodernistycznej lewicy.


Kobiety jak Bianca Censori rozumieją i lubią “męskie spojrzenie”. Kobieta w monogamicznym związku, która pozuje nago nie jest k*rwa nawet w najbardziej konserwatywnym pojęciu. To już kiedyś było. To jest bardziej widoczne w kulturze Hip Hop’u i większość kobiet show-biznesu robi to bardziej subtelnie.


Widzimy tu też częstą tendencję stosowaną przez socjalistów tzw “doszukiwanie się patologii”. Siłowe wyszukiwanie i w końcu kreowanie patologicznych zachowań w osobach, które nie trzymają linii partyjnej. To jest proces teorii konfliktu na mikroskali. Członkowie rodzin i przyjaciele są przekonywani do kłócenia się i rozdzielania się aż w końcu demonstrują patologię która była celem. Większość szkód jest nie do naprawienia.


I bardzo szybko ruch kobiety wspierają kobiety jest już pokazany za to czym jest. Przejęcie środków produkcji. Subwersja i zniszczenie męskiego spojrzenia. I w końcu destrukcja tego czego nie nawidzą najbardziej. Piękna.

Zgodnie z planem prace sprzedane kolekcjonerom cyfrowym, były pokazane większej publiczności.

Bardzo podobała się ludziom ekspresyjna forma portretów i emocje przez nie pokazane. Kilka prac z cyklu „Stany Umysłu” były popularne, szczególnie te:

Cieszę się, że wystawa była intymna I nie wzbudziła kontrowersji. Na sto procent była sukcesem.

Zapraszam do Klubokawiarni Pożytecznej na al. Niepodległości do piątku 12/05/23.
(P.S. Nie zapomnij zeskanować kodu QR.)
****
Despite all attempts to sabotage the show and my health by different forces, it was very rewarding to meet the people who were interested in my work and for the first time receiving this support from the public.

As planned works sold as digital collectibles were shown to a wider audience.
People were particularly impressed by the expressive nature of the works and the emotional resilience captured in the sitters.

The works from “States of the Mind” were also popular.

I’m pleased the show was small and didn’t cause a controversy. It was definitely a success.

The works are available for viewing till Friday 12/05/23 in Klubokawiarnia Pożyteczna al. Niepodległości 135 in Warsaw.
P.S. don’t forget to scan the Qr code.

Avi and Louis Villain skilfully manoeuvre my city. They revel in the world of high art and literature, through nightlife and battling poverty with crime only to exit into the world of mental health hospitals and drug use that has long stopped being just for fun. Add to that hip hop’s trademark confidence we took from American hip hop with an added dark undertone particular of Warsaw rap.

More than anything they capture the struggle and ambition of an artist that takes his craft seriously and suddenly the world of a Hip Hop artist and a traditional painter are not so different.
​
Who knows maybe one day there will be a street named after them.

Original text from prologue (c) Avi and Louis Villain:

Nauczyciele mówili, że to się nie uda, nie ma prawa się udać
Mówili, że tacy jak my nigdy nie przebiją się ze swoją sztuką, że jesteśmy skazani na niezrozumienie, alienację, samotność
Z góry zakładali nasze niepowodzenie, a im bardziej nas zniechęcali, tym bardziej nam zależało
Czyż to nie piękny paradoks? Cóż za pojebany paradoks
Jesteśmy samoukami, a te wszystkie wasze szkolne formułki...
Jesteśmy zaprzeczeniem tych formułek
Gdzieś w środku nas pojawiła się iskra, nasionom, które pomimo niesprzyjających warunków zakwitło i wydało owoc
Nauczyciele chyba zapomnieli o tym, że sztuka, to nie zimny abstrakt, ale twór z krwi i kości, który, jeśli jesteś na tyle wrażliwy, może Cię dotknąć
Tęskniłeś przyjacielu? Bo my bardzo

Last week I had the pleasure and privilege to show my works at the Boomer Gallery in Tower Bridge in London. 

My first solo show was a great success. The main theme were the "Courage to be myself" portraits of my friends from hospital. Emilka, one of the sitters, sang for us. Andrzej Kalemba recited a poem he wrote about her, as well as some of his other poetry. I also showed some of my other works, and allowed guests to have access to the studio to see works I'm currently working on.

The show raised awareness and visibility of mental health among our friend group. Many realised a lot more people will reach for help for their mental health then they knew, as it is something so private.

I got particularly good feedback on the text that came with the portraits, where I asked individuals what mental wellness meant to them,