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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Jakub Rozalski (aka "Mr. Werewolf") is a Polish concept artist and illustrator who describes the world in his paintings as a futuristic 1920s Eastern Europe, or "1920+". Previously featured on our blog, Rozalski's works contrast the soft nostalgia of 19th and 20th century inspired scenery under attack against giant mecha robots. While warring nations combat mechanical beasts in epic battles that feel alien and also vaguely familiar, Polish shepards and farmers in the countryside work their land alongside wild animals. "I like to mix historical facts and situations with my own motives, ideas and visions," he says, "I attach great importance to the details, the equipment, the costumes, because it allows you to embed painting within a specified period of time.”
Idyllic paintings of daily life set centuries ago are spliced with a dystopian sci-fi fantasy in German artist Jakub Rozalski's work. Nostalgic elements clash with futuristic ones as giant robots invade the European countryside. Soldiers, armed with rifles and on horseback, are powerless against the mechanical beasts. Unlike much sci-fi inspired work, Rozalski's paintings have a painterly quality to them that evokes the loose expressiveness of Impressionism. He convincingly inserts the robots into scenes that would otherwise appear straight out of the late 19th or early 20th century, inviting viewers to imagine a starkly different version of history than the one we know today.