Mikhail Slezkin (B. 1960), Acid, 2017

oil, canvas, 160 x 130 cm, signed on the reverse:
'MICHAŁ SLEZKIN | 'ACID' | AGE OF FEAR CYCLE | OIL ON CANVAS | 2018 | MICHAŁ SLEZKIN'.

Mikhail Slezkin | Mikhail Slezkin's paintings thrill with poetics of expression, sometimes built on the basis of just a few brushstrokes. Extremely intense canvases of this artist, impossible to pass by indifferently, are a strong dominant feature of the space. They are expressive and strong, yet impossible to clearly define the depicted places, events or figures. The presented work titled Acid is one of the artist's large-format canvases, which in their minimalism and decisiveness create a sense of physical co-presence of the depicted figure. A figure whose existence we are certain of, whose presence we unmistakably sense, amplified by the scale of the representation, but cannot define, understand or correctly name. This uncertainty, the inability to determine who we are dealing with is not surprising in the context of the entire series of works entitled Age of Fear, of which the work Acid is a part. About this series the artist wrote that it brings back the atmosphere and feeling of instability, registers the volatility and uncertainty of the modern world. It is a journey into the dark realms of one's own self in relation to this unpredictable, anxiety-inducing environment. This aspect of Slezkin's painting series could be seen last year in the group exhibition Problems of the First World: Life Before Death at the Stefan Gierowski Foundation in Warsaw. His works were also exhibited at the 2019 Wrocław Drawing Triennale. Mikhail Slezkin works with painting, drawing, large-format watercolors, and creates spatial objects based on synthetic resins. A special aspect of Slezkin's artistic practice is conceptual projects such as State, which is an extremely complex artistic development and extension of the "social game" already played by the artist's father into imaginary state entities. Michal Slezkin graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, from the graphics department under Prof. Maciej Urbaniec and from the painting department in the studio of Teresa Pągowska. The artist's works have been exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions, including in Poland, the Czech Republic, China, France and Hungary. Mikhail Slezkin's works are in esteemed Polish and foreign collections.