Kriev

The sky is blue, the grass is green. A pretty person walks by and smiles at you. Life is beautiful.

Perhaps you’ve spent the whole of your conscious life with that perspective, never considering the abyss above the clouds, the fire deep beneath your feet, the phlegm and tendons behind the smile. You let scientists and doctors worry about reality while you enjoy the sights of life. Then one day you pick up a book and see the paintings of Kriev. Rudimentary robots and colorful zombies live in fire-lit terrain, voodoo doll children stand orphaned in rubble and a man with a pumpkin head waters a “head” on the ground. At first you smile at the silly satire but something is troubling. The children look truly lonely, despite the brave smiles stitched crudely upon their faces. The chorus girl riding a bicycle is stone cold crazy despite her sexy stockings. A robot rock star screams at the moon as the earth beneath his feet begins to burst like the blood vessels of a dying cancer patient. Kriev’s “silly satire” has lured you to a frightening place: Truth.

Turn away from the painting and the sky is blue again. It was all a dream. A pretty person walks by and smiles. Now you wonder if the smile is genuine or stitched upon their face. A man in the corner laughs like a robot at superficial conversation. You will never see life the same because you have seen Kriev. You have seen art.

Terry Moore

Houston, TX