Norwegian expressionist artist Max Miroslav specializes in abstract art that makes bold social statements.
Born and raised in Czechoslovakia, Max has traveled around the world to experience the plight of everyday people first-hand. From working on a kibbutz in Israel to visiting the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, from Petra in Jordan to Cairo in Egypt, and from Germany to Ireland to the United States, Max has immersed himself in the social fabric of every place he has visited. And in many of those places, he has left his mark – in the form of social-commentary street art.
Max Miroslav’s art focuses on social dystopias that could exist – and in some cases already exist – just around the corner. The spider features prominently in some of his artwork, representing danger, deception, sophistry, and surveillance. Other works feature hearts, which represent false love, or, in some cases, positive hopefulness. His art’s bold colors and iconic shapes serve to both draw the viewer in and to communicate the message within his work.
His current artistic focus is on the situation surrounding Russia and Ukraine. When asked by a gallery attendee “Why have you made Russia one of your projects?” he explained as follows:
Because I myself grew up in a dictatorship and I feel how people feel right now in Russia. I remember that feeling very well. I felt myself living in some kind of acidic atmosphere that corrodes – corrodes normal human relationships, corrodes the system of values, destroys people physically and morally. People lose their morality. It destroys the human psyche.
I see this mass psychosis in Russian society today. This is dehumanization. That’s what scares me the most. People don’t see the difference between good and evil anymore. That clear distinction is lost. People don’t understand what it is good and what is evil. They sincerely do not. This is what I consider a moral disaster.