In the larger size “Air Show” works I make use of a gestural manner of painting, one long subdued: many character elements of the picture are covered in paint, the density of material prevails as well as the collisional character of the aerial vortices.

(2023; from manuscript)

The “Air Show” cycle is exuberant, dynamic, adrenaline filled. It might be said to have anticipated the hostilities in eastern Europe. It is for sure that the lockdown recalled the siege of my native city and the isolation in which, without power or water, with a minimum of necessities, we survived, while the Yugo Army MIGs flew overhead dropping phosphorus and other destructive bombs. The avoidance of negative thinking typical of me is manifested in the title of this cycle.  My planes are piloted by imaginary ace fliers. It is a performance for children, the young, fun for the family, in the air, on sunny Saturday afternoons. I am aware that top pilots are not trained for air shows, that planes are not perfected primarily for panoramic flights over cities and the pristine forests still remaining  for the purposes of the tourist industry; the purpose of all this investment is completely different. Greed, power, manipulation and profit are some of the dominant manifestations of the human species. There is still hope that the world will survive, thanks to the others, the good and the noble.

(2022; from the catalogue of the exhibition “ Slovokracija / Letterocracy”, Zagreb 2022/2023; corrected)