Tomasz MUSIAŁ (b. 1974), Gray Eagle, 2013

acrylic, canvas; 150 x 150 cm;
signed, dated and described on the reverse: TOMASZ MUSIAŁ / EAGLE GRAY / 2013/14 / ACRYLIC 150 / 150;
On the reverse, on the painter's loom, a sticker from the exhibition: "White Eagle / Red Eagle", December 2014-February 2015, Lodz, Poland.

From 1995 to 2000 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz. In 2010 he defended his doctoral degree. He currently runs the Drawing Studio at the Faculty of Painting and Drawing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz. He has exhibited his works in exhibitions such as: "White Eagle/Red Eagle", Olimpus Gallery, Lodz (2015); "Polnische kunst heute", Glasbau (2014); "Positive Disintegration", Art Propaganda Center, Lodz (2013); "Thymós. Art of Anger 1900-2011," Center for Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu, Toruń (2011); "Nord Art.", Budelsdorf (2010); Moscow Biennale for Young Art, Qui vive?, Moscow (2010); "Strong man&Strange man," City Art Gallery 13 Muses, Szczecin (2010); "Memoirs of the Tamagochi Generation."
Klima Bocheńska Gallery, Warsaw (2008); "The Damned in Haus Schwarzenberg," Galerie Neurotitan, Berlin (2005); "Bielska Jesień," Bielska BWA Gallery (2003); "International Young Art.", Sotheby's, Tel-Aviv, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York (2001). In 2006. Alexander S.Onassis Foundation in Athens awarded the painting "Whipping," which was one of the four equal best works at the International Competition for the Composition of Original Painting. In addition, he received awards at the 12th National Art Salon "EGERIA 2004" (2004), the Biennale of Young Art "Fish Eye" (2008) and the Festival of Young Art "Przeciąg" in Szczecin (2009).
(Source: asp.lodz.pl, tomaszmusial.com)

"(...) Tomasz Musial, whipping the eagles, undoubtedly directs our thoughts to the history of the Polish nation, marked by voluntary sacrifice, and the painful page this country has in its relations with various neighbors. On the other hand, by creating such a simple and catchy symbol, he does not allow himself to be locked into an unambiguous interpretation. It is hard to resist the impression that the artist approaches with a certain dose of irony the model of Polishness, which is realized in the masochistic scratching of wounds, or even the "victim syndrome", within which the sense of patriotism is founded on the cultivation of the memory of lofty events, but which are, however, disasters. This dual reading of the "Eagles" series gains even more relevance now that we have entered the so-called "Smolensk period" after 2010 [per Format, no. 70].