THE SKULL No 94 (AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT). FROM THE SERIES GRAFFITI/ STILL LIFE- Limited Edition of 5 Photograph

Still life is one of those subjects in art that never gets old, and in its repertoire one of the most common props is the skull. In today's art practices, its semantics of vanitas is exploited with new intensity, especially in street art and new expressionism. The graffiti I photographed is the work of an anonymous artist. And in my "remembering gaze," it evoked associations that relate to the longevity of skull iconography and various techniques of image production. Here, graffiti, decolletage, painter's paint, and a street painter's hand gesture connect the past to today, hic and nunc. The inscription "Wild East" ("Wild East") contextualizes the image: it creates an unsettling atmosphere relating to the cultural context of a country peripheral between East and West. My photograph is a result of the appropriation of this found graffiti. It has political overtones: it refers to the situation "in Poland or nowhere" from Alfred Jarry's drama "Ubu Król czyli Polacy" ("Ubu the King or the Poles") (1888). The photograph comes from the series "Graffiti", which I have been working on for several years and is dedicated to one of the leading artists of graffiti and painting derived from street art - new expressionism, Jean-Michel Basquiat. Collector's digital photography, color Digital print on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta 315g (semi-flash), archival paper, acid-free signed, dated 2018, Size: 40x40 cm Copy no. 1 from a limited edition of 5 copies. not glued, without frame Certificate of Authenticity. Without damages. Archive file: _DSF7594.raw