Bin Ladin’s Lamp

 

Bin Ladin’s Lamp

The series of paintings entitled Tales of Sleepless Nights follows on from a cycle of paintings from 1999 entitled Bin Laden’s Lamp. I was inspired by the well known oriental stories One Thousand and One Nights. The original works were created at a time when Czechia had barely been touched by Islam. Since I was travelling extensively in Africa and Asia at the time and was therefore aware of the enormous strength and vitality of life in these countries, I felt the need to tell Czechs their story with all of its contradictions. Few Czechs at that time had read the Koran, but almost everyone was familiar with the enchanting oriental tales from their childhood. So I took advantage of this and developed an aesthetic that could capture the magic of the imagination I wanted to reach out to the viewer with.

Commando Unit of Siamese Triples of Hizballah, 1999, 165 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas

 

Commando Unit of Siamese Triples of Hizballah, 1999, 165 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas, detail.

I was inspired by several visual phenomena:

1 – Mughal miniature art from the 17th century, which was itself inspired by European art that was coming to Asia through European, mainly British, colonisers and traders. The Mughals were so enthralled by European figurative art that they longed to create a similar tradition in their empire, despite Islam’s prohibition against depicting the human body. And so this gorgeous style was created on the basis of which I sought to achieve a sense of the fabulous.

Soloists Army Dance Troupe of Hammas, 1999, 165 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas

Soloists Army Dance Troupe of Hammas, 1999, 165 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas

2 – Another source of inspiration was the faience, a ceramic spread widely throughout the Arab world, which in my opinion clearly captures the refined aesthetic of Islam, since it covers most of the major buildings from Morocco to India. Because I was looking for a very specific and for painting rare aesthetic, I based its form on the brilliance of the glaze and the low relief that is used in ceramics.

Extreme Paradise, 1999, 170 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas

3 – The effect of energy fields is based on the idea that an image is made or composed of patches (fields) that have an energy source of meaning at their core. This source is usually a narrative scene that represents a riddle or a magical caricature, often at odds with the message of the image as a whole. At first glance, the image is supposed to look attractively abstract. However, as the viewer’s gaze is drawn close to the miniatures in the centre of the fields (as when a fruit is cut open and the kernel found inside), they find that the essential source, the scene, is not so fairytale like and often points to something problematic in the everyday life of our present times that we do not want to see.

 

Terrorists as Tourists, 1999, 165 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas

In the series Tales of Sleepless Nights I loosely paraphrase scenes that often express the contrasts of alien phenomena in their extreme positions. On the one hand, for instance, we have Charon, a stoic and a gloomy looking figure in the form of death, who transports the dead to the other world. But let us image the opposite figure and scene, the extreme, such as an Australian surfer frolicking freely on wild waves. Why not offer something like this to the tormented creature with the lantern – let him ride enthusiastically on a wild ocean wave and finally experience the giddiness of joyful romping!

 

Extrame Dreams, 1999, 165 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas

Extrame Dreams, 1999, 165 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas, detail.

 

 

Islamic Space Administration, 1999, 165 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas

 

Humanitarian Section of an Organization Advocating Religious Freedom, 1999, 165 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas

 

Extreme Disciplines, 2015, 165 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas

Extreme Disciplines, 2015, 165 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas

 

Radical Hairdoses, 2016, 165 x 155 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas, detail.

 

 

Offenzive Archeologists, 2013,  150 x 160 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas

Offenzive Archeologists, 2013,  150 x 160 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas, detail.

 

Avant – garde Patriots, 2016,  150 x 160 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas

Avant – garde Patriots, 2016,  150 x 160 cm, acrylic and epoxide on canvas, detail.