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Original artwork description:
The painting “Octopus” is the final, twelfth painting in the series “The Pathos of Bureaucracy” — a bitterly ironic full stop rather than a silent ending.
The octopus is an allegory of a corrupt telephone apparatus: a system that speaks politely while acting through its tentacles of control. There is no way to bypass them — each tentacle leads from another office, department, or authority. Wherever you turn, you are already inside.
It does not attack openly, but slowly entangles life itself, creating the illusion of order and a “proper process” behind which corruption is hidden: unanswered calls, endless transfers, and the system’s quiet agreement with itself.
The series reflects my humorous yet deeply personal struggle with bureaucracy, where irony becomes a form of self-defense. “Octopus” reveals how deeply the system sinks its tentacles into everyday life.
Details:
100 × 100 cm | Oil on canvas with gold leaf | 2018–2025
Ready to hang, signed front and back, certificate of authenticity included.
Materials used:
oil on canvas
Tags:
#gold leaf #social commentary #circle painting #large artwork #political art #retro phone #old telephone #octopus painting #ukrainian artist #art ukraine #anastasiia grygorieva #white phone #art symbolism #octopus bureaucracy #allegory artOctopus (2025) Oil painting
by Anastasiia Grygorieva
26 Artist Reviews
£2,935.22
- Oil painting on Canvas
- One of a kind artwork
- Size: 100 x 100 x 2cm (unframed)
- Ready to hang
- Signed on the front
- Style: Surrealistic
- Subject: Animals and birds
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Original artwork description
The painting “Octopus” is the final, twelfth painting in the series “The Pathos of Bureaucracy” — a bitterly ironic full stop rather than a silent ending.
The octopus is an allegory of a corrupt telephone apparatus: a system that speaks politely while acting through its tentacles of control. There is no way to bypass them — each tentacle leads from another office, department, or authority. Wherever you turn, you are already inside.
It does not attack openly, but slowly entangles life itself, creating the illusion of order and a “proper process” behind which corruption is hidden: unanswered calls, endless transfers, and the system’s quiet agreement with itself.
The series reflects my humorous yet deeply personal struggle with bureaucracy, where irony becomes a form of self-defense. “Octopus” reveals how deeply the system sinks its tentacles into everyday life.
Details:
100 × 100 cm | Oil on canvas with gold leaf | 2018–2025
Ready to hang, signed front and back, certificate of authenticity included.
Materials used:
oil on canvas
Tags:
#gold leaf #social commentary #circle painting #large artwork #political art #retro phone #old telephone #octopus painting #ukrainian artist #art ukraine #anastasiia grygorieva #white phone #art symbolism #octopus bureaucracy #allegory art
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