Harvest, from the series Land of Gods and Monsters, 2019

Artists Maciej Nowacki
Genre Painting
Edition Survival 18

The Internet is the primary natural habitat of the contemporary painter. It has become the most frequented space of everyday life whose scope of inspiration is unlimited in terms of the availability of contents and impulses. In practice, it enables free use of a visual library of existing images and provides access to a reality mediated by various types of archives. The painting Harvest, part of the Land of Gods and Monsters* series, constitutes a reflection on the interpenetration of fragments of virtual and objective realities zamiast of virtual and objective realities. The central motif of the painting – the characteristic face with tears of joy emoji – was recognised by the Oxford Dictionary as the “word” of 2015. What does the laughing-and-crying face express? Ecstatic, overwhelming joy or despair and helplessness in the face of unclear reality? Maciej Nowacki brings the surrealism of this emoticon to a new level by adding a vessel for tears. This simple gesture is a comment on the dehumanised world of the Internet, which is usually far removed from people and their affairs. In return, the artist gives the viewer a painting – a product of his imagination – which is therefore much more connected with the energy and matter surrounding us.

The title of the series is inspired by a song by Lana Del Rey entitled Gods and Monsters.

 

photo: Małgorzata Kujda