Oil, canvas: 100 x 100 cm
Signed, dated, described on the back: "Little Auschwitz" /2022 / The Dwarves/ Whielki Krasnal
Work presented at the exhibition: Self-Portrait of Polish Reality at the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom;2023
Work reproduced in the catalog: The Dwarnals Autoportret Polskiej Rzeczywistości (Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom;2023)
The Krasnals is a controversial art group founded in 2008 by anonymous artists. On their blog they wrote: "as provocateurs of culture we prove the hypocrisy, hypocrisy, mechanisms of power prevailing in it. We criticize the reduction of art to political propaganda, the creation of the spectacle of art and the stripping of its authenticity. We demand the right to freedom of art, its democracy in all spheres, including economic." The artists' works draw attention to current social and political events, criticize the art market and the artist's frequent entanglement in commercialism. Artistic freedom is the most important value for them. Whielki Dwarf is the founder, leader and chief painter of the group.
"Man is a complex being who lives in a world full of pain and suffering. Art allows us to find solace and overcome these difficulties, conveys values to us, teaches us compassion, love and respect. Thanks to it, we could express our emotions, thoughts, but also heal our wounds. At the same time, we can't forget our animal nature and biological needs that affect our lives."
The Krasnals
(The Krasnals catalog Autoportret Polskiej Rzeczywistości/Muzeum Górnośląskie in Bytom/ 2023)
"Little Auschwitz was painted spontaneously, between other, completely different images. As a glimpse from the past, from a forgotten history. An episode in the history of mankind impossible to describe. Camp Polenjugendverwahrlager der Sicherheitspolizei in Litzmannstadt - Preventive Security Police Camp for Polish Youth in Lodz.
Impossible to describe, yet forever imprinted in the collective consciousness. We must accept that it appears with a chill on the surface of the skin, impossible to accept."
The Krasnals
