Our confusing present constantly confronts us with the phenomena of death. Unfair, sudden, unforeseen. And that is why the taste of life is felt so acutely, sensual experience becomes relief, and feelings are sharpened and become passions. Eros is the initial powerful passion, the god of love, depicted in the form of a playful little boy with wings. It is these little gods who come to the forefront of paintings, conveying greetings to classicism and rococo, but at the same time playing new virtual games of the 21st century. The second player in these games is the eternal rival of Eros - Thanatos, who is not manifested in the paintings, but we constantly feel his presence in the tension of the composition and contrasting dips of dark tones. This confrontation, transferred from real life to the canvases, at the same time makes these paintings a reflection of the era and an eternal human narrative. The struggle of these two forces is the basis for human existence, which is why life pulsates so much in these paintings.

The solemn decorations of this confrontation refer us to Plato's "Banquet" in which human thought almost for the first time tried to comprehend the complex problem of Eros, and invites us to this improvised banquet to reflect on the eternal struggle in the very whirlpool of which we find ourselves.

Alex Zakletsky,

Artist, curator,

Serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.