Layers of death, layers of fantasy, layers of reality are the things that come to my mind when I look at the artwork of the late Zdzislaw Beksiński. I can’t even compare his work to anything I have seen in my lifetime. Today CVLT Nation would like to celebrate his work with an epic art essay…Read what we had to say in part one below. Listen to what he had to say in his own words during an interview…Long live Zdzislaw Beksiński!!!
Death is a mystery that humankind is compelled to explore. Some people deny its existence, clinging to a life after death, others embrace its nothingness. Still others, like Zdzisław Beksiński, create with their minds a dead land, where skin has dissolved from flesh and flesh from bone, a place dedicated to the warmth of decay. Unlike many who envision a nightmare landscape, Beksiński’s world is not a cold one – his scenes may focus on a dead subject, but they pulsate with life. Looking at paintings from his “fantastic period,” I feel a moist, warm breeze touch my skin, as if the humid breath of a decaying land surrounds me.
