Original artwork description:

Once Upon a Time by Igor Galan is a surreal, chilling, and masterfully ironic oil painting that stops viewers in their tracks. At first glance, it’s a beach scene: five carefree figures posing happily under the summer sun. But then – above them – a catastrophic fireball looms, blazing with fury, its mushroom-like form unmistakable. What unfolds is a bitter juxtaposition: blissful ignorance versus looming destruction. The tension is electric.

Galan originally painted this scene in a more innocent key, but in 2023 he reworked the composition to reflect our era’s deep dissonance – the contradiction between surface-level normalcy and the escalating crises beneath. There’s humor here, yes, but also grief. The painting reads like a parable: a modern fairy tale gone wrong, a warning wrapped in beach towels and bronzed skin. Through fine detail and explosive brushwork, Galan asks: how long can we pose before the blast reaches us? This is the kind of figurative, conceptual work that stirs collectors looking for political art with high aesthetic value.

Materials used:

Oil

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