The Krasnals War with Facebook Censorship

The Krasnals. Big Dwarf "Facebook – Censorship". 2011. Oil on cardboard. 50 x 70 cm

The act of censorship, removing The Krasnals facebook account is one of the biggest crimes against free culture, democracy, freedom of artistic speech in Poland since the last decade !

For a couple of days, when trying to access th account, we get the message "your account is disabled. It is damaged". After sending a series of e-mails to disabled@facebook.com, we got the reply, that we may make a group, but after registering as a real person. Without any warning, our two-year work of art has been destroyed, the data archive (photos, texts and comments were a very import_ant social voice. Is this a new form of burning inconvenient books?) and a wide amount of friends, gathered contacts, that we cannot get back. If we received some information a few days beforehand, we could have informed our friends and save the most import_ant information.

Facebook proves once again, that democracy and its main element- freedom of speech is fictional. Facebookis a syndrome of our times and a modern way of censoring. The official freedom of speech is controlled from every corner and denied to us undercover of precise terms and regulations of use. To this accusation Facebook always responds negatively.
So it requires to give out real personal data, which is impossible in the case of an anonymous artist using a pseudonym. This is the first proof allowing to get removed from facebook. But what's more important– your profile gets blocked when a certain number of people reports abuse. What does it mean?
It suffices, when some people are against critical comments, and boom- the profile disappears from public space. The accounts do not disappear according to some rules, but after reporting abuse. So first, someone has to report this and then someone has to verify this, or at least they should. Human malevolence knows no boundaries, in case some group doesn't like someone for some reason, they can easily block the account. This way we have absurdities, like freedom of speech have only those politically correct consumers of goods produced by modern corporations.
We opt for no political party, the only thing we are sensitive to is social deformation, no matter what the political source. We try to provoke discussion about some sick phenomena, especially in culture.
In our case it is a n embarrassing form of censorship, because it is known that our activity is not pleasant to everyone and is mainly executed over the internet.
Our main tool of functioning is being taken away from us.

Egyptian revolutionary

The Krasnals. Whielki Krasnal "Egyptian revolutionary 19:39". 2010. Oil on hardboard 50 x 70 cm

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EGIPT - NEFERTITI

Nefertiti
The Krasnals. "Please...! Take me back to EGYPT! / Nefertiti". 2011. Stencil, canvas. 21 x 15 cm

Nefertiti, Neues Museum, Museum Island Berlin, Hosini Mubarak, Egypt revolution
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The Krasnals exclusive interview with the queen NEFERTITI

Ready for leadership
For Nefertiti, it is a chance to shake off her image as an elitist who is out of touch after years of being abroad.
Speaking to The Krasnals reporter still being held in Neue Museum in Berlin, Nefertiti said:

“This is a critical time in the life of Egypt and I have to come to participate with the Egyptian people,"
"If people, in particular young people, ... want me to lead the transition, I will not let them down. My priority right now ... is to see a new regime and to see a new Egypt through peaceful transition."

"We're still reaching out to the regime to work with them for the process of change. Every Egyptian doesn't want to see the country going into violence," she said. "Our hand is outstretched."

"I wish that we didn't have to go to the streets to impress on the regime that they need to change," queen Nefertiti said. "There is no going back. I hope the regime stops the violence, stops detaining people, stops torturing people."

We asked Egyptians why the presence of Nefertiti is so important for them now:
"We need our beloved Queen Nefertiti to lead us to the change we want, for the regime to fall and Mubarak to leave and for a new, free Egypt to be born!"

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Egyptian Antiquities in Peril; Troops Guard Museum

That breach, on Friday night, galvanized a contingent of impassioned defenders who have pledged to keep plunderers at bay. Some have been outside the museum since word of the first attack, determined to protect the country’s cultural patrimony.

“It’s the heart of our civilization,” said thirty-two-year-old Ali Said, perspiring in the noonday heat as he stood guard outside the museum Tuesday, arms linked with those of men standing beside him. “And it’s not just for us; it belongs to the entire world.”
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"Three Hanging Kids" / bambini Cattelan / Jan Tomasz Gross

The Krasnals. Big Dwarf "hanging kids the Death of Which Child Would be the Best Business? 2010. Oil on canvas. 97 x 97 cm
Maurizio Cattelan 'Hanging Kids','I bambini ci guardano', 'tre bambini impiccati', 'The Children Are Watching Us' . Three children hang on a tree and watch the truth with their eyes wide open.

"Golden harvest" Jan Tomasz Gross

The Krasnals. Big Dwarf "Golden harvest... It's horrible! ". 2011. Oil on canvas. 50 x 73 cm
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DO YOU TRUST ANONYMS?

The Krasnals. Big Dwarf

"DO YOU TRUST ANONYMS? / Banksy / from 'The Great Poles' series" 2010.
Oil on a paperboard . 50 x 70 cm

Why you have to be anonymous to be able to say the whole truth?

LADY GAGA in Poland

The Krasnals. Whielki Krasnal
"- How it is?
- It is like this. I'm interested in the condition of contemporary woman./
LADY GAGA in Poland / from the Great Poles series"
2010. Oil on canvas. 41 x 41 cm


(the dialog comes from the titles of exhibitions by Miroslaw Balka in Tate Modern "How it is" and Maciej Maciejowski in National Gallery in Cracow "It's like this")
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Lady Gaga in Poland

The Krasnals. Big Dwarf "I love Poland / Lady Gaga from 'The Great Poles' series". 2010. Acrylics on canvas. 54 x 65,5 cm

Lady Gaga - concert
When:

11/26/2010

Where:

Hala GdañskGdansk, POLAND

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"The Year We Made Contact" (2010) Piotr Uklański - The Krasnals

Welcome to the opening of the exhibition of Piotr Uklański and The Krasnals, in the context of the works of Tadeusz Kantor.

Art Station Foundation
Poznan, Poland
Opening at November 4, at 7 pm
November 4 - January 21, 2011

The exhibition will show the installation of Piotr Uklanski, another project created together with The Dwarves. The principal element is a huge textile surface, a tapestry whose style, form of expression and stage quality invoke the recognizable climate of 60s and 70s. An inseparable part of the work is a free-standing round and red painting done by The Dwarves titled "Red Dwarf", inscribed into the field of the aforementioned painting. Both elements make up an inseparable whole that appropriates the space they are located in.

In deciding to execute his work in such a recognizable form and style, Uklański created something that further continues his earlier artistic program. He seeks ever new strata of signification contained in stereotypes, cultural symbols and national myths, such as the latest myth of The Dwarves in contemporary Polish art and politics. In the case of the work "The Year We Made Contact" the artist returns to the version of Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey", when it refers to a memorable first contact of Uklanski with The Dwarves under the slogan "Are you married? You're married? Vote for marriage! ". And the painting "Red Dwarf" in "2010: A Space Odyssey" is nothing but heart of the red star, vitalizing the grey matter. The Reverse 2001 hidden on the other hand with a red circle, though not visible, refer to the threads of memory and history, national symbols which are in the works Uklanski play a key role. Its purpose is to search for new deposits of meaning contained in stereotypes and cultural symbols and myths of national importance such as the latest myth Krasnalach in contemporary Polish art and politics. In the case of "The Year We Made Contact" the artist returns to the version of Kubrick's "2001 A Space Odyssey," when it refers to a memorable first contact with the compound Dwarf Uklańskim under the slogan "Are you married? You're married? Vote for marriage. " "Red Dwarf" in "Space Odyssey 2010" is nothing but life pulsing heart of red stars. The Reverse 2001 hidden on the back side of a red circle, though not visible, refers to the threads of memory and history, national symbols - this case the elections in Poland in 2001 - which play a key role in Uklanski works.


The Dwarves. Big Dwarf
- OBVERSE: "The Year We Made Contact" (2010) / Untitled / Red Dwarf "/ Piotr Uklański - Big Dwarf"
- REVERSE: "The Year We Made Contact" (2001) / "Are you married? You're married? Vote for your marriage! "/ Piotr Uklański - Big Dwarf"
2001/2010. Obverse: Acrylic, reverse: collage; fibreboard. Diameter 52 cm


This work was shown for the first time at this year Whitney Biennial. The New York version of the painting "Untitled / Red Dwarf" was done personally by Uklański (due to excessively high transport costs), while in Poznan will be possible to see the original version performed by The Dwarves, - whole installation purchased by Grażyna Kulczyk to her collection.


Installation at Whitney Biennial “The Year We Made Contact, 2010", “Untitled /Red Dwarf”

Here let us recall a few key stations of Space Odyssey "Piotr Uklański - The Krasnals":
1. In mid-2008 Piotr Uklański buys from The Krasnals two paintings one with his portrait, and another refering to his exhibition, "White-Red". However The Krasnals changed his famous fist to the fig sign (meaning no way), and it became the logo of The Dwarves.

The Dwarves "Polska - Biało-Czerwoni, Ole! / Piotr Uklański". 2008. Oil on canvas. 50 x 70 cm


The Dwarves "Uklanski fist" . 2008. Oil on canvas. 65 x 80 cm

2. Uklański prints the painting of The Big Dwarf instead of his traditional photo in the Art Now! Vol.3, Page 480 (Taschen)
http://www.taschen.com/lookinside/04431/index.htm


3. The same image of The Big Dwarf placed in the central part of the Uklanski installation at the exhibition "Pop Life" at the Tate Modern in 2009


Info on artnewsday.org :
http://artnewsday.org/aggregator/sources/464
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I could live in Africa 3 / Belarus

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The third part of The Krasnals participation in the exhibition
"I could live in Africa"

"Russian Roulette / Belarus 2009"
- MoMA Warsaw
24 July - 19 September 2010
- Witte de With CCA, Rotterdam
February 20, 2010 - April 25, 2010
- „Russian Roulette / Belarus 2009” Gorky Park Minsk; June 2009.

A series of paintings "Russian Roulette / Belarus 2009" was created on the basis of photographs documenting a secret exhibition of The Krasnals in Gorky Park in Minsk in June 2009.

The Krasnals initiated in Minsk a unique sculpture park. The works have been camouflaged in such a way not to provoke the authorities, they made the impression as they were objects naturally placed in the environment. Their meaning could be easily read "between the lines" in which people of Belarus are exercised to perfection.
The main, central object was the installation of 'Mannequins without heads ", referring directly to the Lukashenko government policy, providing complete control over its citizens. To make the camouflage, mannequins were placed on the roof of the car, in the usual manner, as they were part of a clothes stall.


The Krasnals. Whielki Krasnal "Belarusian Mannequins / Belarus 2009 ". 2009. Oil on canvas. 40 x 53 cm

On one of the trees we hung a "ban on parking and stopping." It suggested that here in the circle of art, it is absolutely forbidden to stop even for a moment by citizens of Belarus. It is a dangerous area, and the proper process of citizens brainwashing can be disturbed.


The Krasnals. Whielki Krasnal "Ban on parking and stopping / Belarus 2009". 2009. Photography, limited edition 1/10. 70 x 100 cm

A few steps next to it there was a "beautiful prison". It was symbolized by the very aesthetic piece, originally designed decorative grid, which was a part of the fence at the small pavilion trade. Pavilion, with a red Coca-Cola advertising, however, was a perverse symbol of the triumph of capitalism.


The Krasnals. Whielki Krasnal "Nice prison / Belarus 2009 ". 2009. Photography, limited edition 1/10. 70 x 100 cm


The Krasnals. Whielki Krasnal "Belarusian Coca-cola / Belarus 2009 ". 2009. Oil on canvas. 40 x 53 cm

The entire park, which was the secret territory of art, was at a specific place, next to the former casino. When you raised the sight, you could see the old neon sign that says "Kazino. Black ominous circles of the former windows reminded us, that willy-nilly all is ruled here by the Russian Roulette.


The Krasnals. Whielki Krasnal "Belarusian casino. Belarusian casino. Russian Roulette / eyeholes / Belarus 2009 ". 2009. Oil on canvas. 40 x 53 cm

When we were invited to the exhibition in MoMA in Warsaw and CCA Witte de With in Rotterdam, we found that the best scene to recreate the atmosphere of the 80's in Poland in an exotic way due to the curator's vision, would be to find ourselves in the present situation of Belarus.
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