August 20th 2020 Alexey Navalny was poisoned by Putin’s mafia state agents
September 10th he woke up after the poisoning in hospital in Germany
January 17th Alexey returned back to Russia only to be arrested and put in jail for his beliefs.
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Edition 1/1
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Context
20th August 2020 Alexey Navalny got poisoned. As we later learn, it was not the first time.
Before that he was arrested several times, fined multiple timed, got his brother jailed and even had acid splashed into his face. This time they tried to take his life.
On September 9, Alexey was resurrected. He came out of a coma, quickly got better and ... announced his return to the homeland.
Then I realized that this guy completely lacks the self-preservation instinct, and that he values ideals and principles so much above his own life.
Until the very last moment, I hoped this wouldn’t happen, but January 17, Alexey returnes to Russia.
I was shocked. I had a heavy feeling that this photo was the last photo of Alexey alive
Fortunately, Alexey we’ve had more of his photos and he is still alive, although not free.
Over the course of that night my anxieties turned into a decision to draw his portrait in a form of an Orthodox icon.
Right before his inevitable arrest, I had this idea of Alexey being the saint martyr dying for his faith. Not in God, but in Man, his rights and freedoms.
That was before Navalny’s famous speech on February 20.
Reference
So, I began to look for Martyr that had a life full of mysadventures similar to Alexey’s
The very first saint I tried had preached ideas objectionable to the authorities: for example, he refused to call the Roman emperor God (ceremonial formality of that time).
For this he was
- Imprisoned
- Stabbed with spears
- Wheeled
- Drowned in quicklime (!)
- Potion poisoned (!!)
And each time he resurrected, impressing and converting to his faith even members of the imperial family
That saint was Saint George the Victorious
I didn’t use the usual Serpent slaying narrative (I hope, Alexey is yet to create this Miracle), instead I used an Assumption Cathedral icon of St. George — the half-length icon currently held in the Moscow Kremlin
Process
At first the portrait was looking tired and tortured, but slowly I made him look more enlightened and eventually he started to look like ancient Rus’ Hero
By the 23th January morning it was ready (could be a nice protest rally poster/sign)
I first thought about minting the piece and sharing proceeds with Navalny team back in March.
By June—July I’ve redrawn and animated the portrait
I’ve also started a mini-collection that I decided to drop separately much later (perhaps coser to 9th September to celebrate Alexey’s recovery)
I ended up with a caricature of sorts. Caricature of the Russian officials’ fake Orthodoxy. Navalny’s cult of personality, and the accusations of creating Navalny’s cult of personality. A caricature of his bold, reckless heroism that we did not deserve.
I dream of seeing Russia as a country where everything is so good, sated, warm, safe, where there is simply no need in heroism. And all heroic deeds are performed by scientists, inventors, entrepreneurs, athletes, artists and poets, mastering the depths of space, ocean, humans
I dream of this portrait becoming a ridiculous relic of the past. For now it shows a tiresome present we live in and a dreadfull possible future we face.
For now we have what we have. We have people who continue to stay in Russia, continue to expose thieves and murderers, continue to fight this mafia state, continue to be heroes.
NFT
Artwork is available on SuperRare.com
First time I have minted the artwork on KnownOrigin.io but it didn’t have the Reserve Bid mechanic there yet (it was released shortly after that mint). Later I have moved to another minting address (new digital identity) and decided to re-mint it again and wrap original token into a new one to use KO’s Reserve Bid smart-contract. That second token is now moved to burning address and the original token is locked with it via smart-contract. They both are effectively burnt.
In spring 2022 I have been approved for SuperRare. By that time I started to plan a series of icons and decided to move the whole series to the dedicated smart-contract, provided by SuperRare team.
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