Bin Ladin’s Lamp

 

Bin Ladin’s Lamp

The series of paintings entitled Tales of Sleepless Nights continues the series of my paintings from 1999 entitled Bin Laden’s Lamp. The inspiration for this series came from the famous collection of Oriental stories Arabian Nights aka Tales from the Thousand and One Nights. When I painted these works, the Czech Republic was almost untouched by Islam. Since I was traveling 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 their stories to my compatriots with all the contradictions. Few Czechs at that time had read the Koran, but almost everyone knew those enchanting Oriental tales from childhood. So I took advantage of this and developed the aesthetics that would harness the magic of such imagination to reach the viewer.

 

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

I was inspired by several visual phenomena:

1 – Mughal miniatures of the 17^th century, which was itself inspired by European art, coming to Asia through European, mainly British, colonizers and traders. The Mughals were so enthralled by European figurative art that they also longed to create a similar tradition in their empire, despite Islam’s prohibition against depicting the human body. And so this lovely style was created, from which I departed to evoke a fairy-tale atmosphere.

 

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 pottery widely distributed throughout the Arab world, which in my opinion clearly captures the refined aesthetics of Islam, as it covers most of the major buildings from Morocco to India. I looked for the aesthetics which would be very specific and rare in painting, and so I based it on the brilliance of the glaze and the low relief that is often 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 the image is made or composed of spots (fields) that have an energy source of meaning in their center. This source is usually a narrative scene that represents a riddle or a magical caricature, which is often in contradiction with the message of the whole image. At first glance, the image is meant to look appealingly abstract. However, when the viewer’s gaze is drawn closer to the miniatures in the center of the fields (like when a fruit is cut open and a kernel is found inside), he finds that the essential source, i.e., the scene does not resemble a fairy tale too much and often points to something problematic in our contemporary everyday life which we do not want to see.

 

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

In Tales of Sleepless Nights I freely paraphrase scenes that tend to express the contrasts of heterogeneous phenomena in their extreme positions. On the one hand, for example, there is Charon, the stoic and grim ferryman who transports the dead across the river to the underworld. But let us imagine quite the opposite figure and scene to the extreme, such an Australian surfer frolicking on the wild waves. Why not give something like this to that tormented creature with a lantern – let him ride enthusiastically on a wild ocean wave, for once being giddy with joy!

 

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.