El beso que lo cambió todo by Grahovsky

The Kiss That Changed Everything

The art collection The Kiss That Changed Everything invites us to enter a dreamlike and symbolic universe, a series of scenes that, much like in the famous Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, unfold in a pictorial space saturated with life, drama, and mystery. Like ancient church altarpieces — think of the majestic Ghent Altarpiece by the Van Eyck brothers — each painting seems like a window into a fragmented story, where reality and myth merge and blur. The characters and symbols inhabiting these paintings are imbued with a deep emotional weight, and their actions, though seemingly ordinary, reflect universal themes of love, desire, redemption, and sacrifice.

The narrative of the exhibition is not linear. The paintings layer seemingly disconnected scenes on the same surface, as if each work were a palimpsest of intersecting stories, forming a tapestry of hidden meanings. This multiplicity of scenes, with its recurring characters — the black cat, the devil, the ghost, death, and those figures that seem to worship or dance in ecstasy — speaks to us of a world where time is cyclical and actions repeat, but always with slight variations that transform the protagonists’ destinies.

In each painting, these characters appear in different forms, almost like actors playing multiple roles throughout the series. The black cat, stealthy and omnipresent, might be a guardian or a silent witness to the transcendental events. The devil slides through the scenes, suggesting temptation, while death appears as a reminder of the inevitable, although its appearances, often filled with irony and ambiguity, invite us to question our understanding of the end. The ghost, floating between the visible and invisible, personifies what is lost and what remains.

Meanwhile, the gathered people — whether dancing, worshiping, or celebrating — seem trapped in a kind of perpetual ritual, a cycle of life and death, joy and loss, in which the kiss stands as a transformative symbol. This kiss, much like in religious altarpieces where a single sacred gesture can change humanity’s destiny, is the turning point. What may seem at first glance to be a series of ordinary or festive scenes is, in reality, an allegory of the human soul, its desires and fears, reflected in a play of shadow and light.

Thus, the proposal weaves a complex visual narrative that compels the viewer to move from one work to another, establishing connections and patterns, creating a story that is never told in a linear fashion but resonates with undeniable symbolic force. Here, each painting is a chapter, each character a piece of a larger puzzle that, like in the Garden of Earthly Delights, invites us to lose ourselves in a universe where the divine, the earthly, and the infernal coexist on the same plane.

Ultimately, The Kiss That Changed Everything is a reflection on the human condition, where every small act — a kiss, a dance, a prayer — has the power to alter the course of history, even if only within the intimate sphere of those who live it. Just like the great altarpieces of the past, this exhibition confronts us with the fragility and transcendence of the moment.

 

Short story of a hug

Historia breve de un abrazo

An ephemeral embrace that captures the moment between what was and what could have been. Here, time stands still and the world transforms, like in the prelude to a kiss that will change history.

Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 41x33cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

Historia Breve De Un Abrazo

 

The Fisherman’s Daughter

La hija del pescador

From the waters that hide secrets, a daughter of the sea emerges, reminding us that the deepest bonds are not always visible, but they are the ones that shape our destinies, like the echo of a kiss on the shore.

Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 41x33cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

La hija del pescador

 

Half Myth, All Reality

Mito y mitad todo realidad

This painting navigates between the fictitious and the real, inviting us to reflect on the boundary between what we believe and what we live, like a kiss that blurs the line between both worlds.

Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 41x33cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

Mito mitad todo realidad

 

Wish You Were as Sharp as a Thistle

Ojalá picaras como un cardo

Sometimes love is as prickly as a thistle, leaving marks on the skin and soul. This painting reflects those moments when we wish to be embraced but fear being hurt.

Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 41x33cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ojala picaras como un cardo

 

The Unbreakable Will of the Spirit

La voluntad inquebrantable del espíritu

A tribute to the inner strength that, even in adversity, keeps searching for its place in the world, like a spirit that refuses to yield to the intensity of an unforgettable kiss.

Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 61x46cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

La voluntad inquebrantable

 

Blind Man’s Buff

La gallinita ciega

In the innocent blindness of this game, love and desire move like chess pieces, searching for that kiss that will change everything, though sometimes it seems we walk blindly.

Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 73x60cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

Fire Escape Contemporary Art Gallery

 

The Crows, the Deer, the Grapes, and the Wine We Spill

Los cuervos, el ciervo, las uvas y el vino que derramé

A dance of symbols and meanings, this painting is a reflection on fleeting pleasures and the tragedies of desire, like a spilled toast that we can never refill.

Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 73x60cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

Los cuervos, el ciervo, las uvas y el vino que derramé

 

Reconstruction of a Dance Macabre

Reconstrucción de una danza macabra

Life is a dance between the beautiful and the tragic, where each step can lead us to the sublime or the fatal. Here, each turn is an attempt to reconstruct what has already been, as if a kiss could undo death itself.

Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 73x60cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

Reconstrucción de una danza macabra

 

You Should Break My Heart in January

Deberías romperme el corazón en enero

January is a cold month, but the pain of a broken heart burns with the force of a thousand suns. This painting tells the story of a love that ends, leaving a lasting echo, like a farewell kiss.

Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 100x81cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

Deberías romperme el corazon en enero

 

Picnic at the End of the World

Picnic en el fin del mundo

Even in the apocalypse, there are moments of peace. In this painting, lovers find refuge in nature while the world crumbles around them, as if a kiss could suspend the end of everything.

Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 100x81cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

Picnic en el fin del mundo

Seven Swords and a Red Dress

Siete espadas y un vestido rojo

A depiction of passion and conflict, where the swords symbolize the danger lurking in every act of love. Here, the kiss is both a weapon and an act of redemption.

Siete espadas y un vestido rojo

The Kiss That Changed Everything

El beso que lo cambió todo

The centerpiece of the exhibition, this piece marks the exact moment when a single kiss changed the trajectory of two lives, a story, or even the world. Here everything begins and ends with a simple, yet decisive gesture.

El beso que lo cambió todo
Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 195x97cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

Stealing a Fair Says More Than a Thousand Words

Robar una verbena dice más que mil palabras

Sometimes, taking something without permission, like a flower or a kiss, says more than any declaration of love. This painting celebrates those small stolen moments that leave an eternal mark.

Robar una verbena dice más que mil palabras
Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 195x130cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

The Lost Throne of the Thief

El trono perdido del ladrón

The thief who had it all but lost it; this painting is a metaphor for love that slips through one’s hands, like a kiss that was never meant to be stolen, but once lost, leaves an irremediable nostalgia.

El trono perdido del ladrón
Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 195x162cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

 

Elegy for a Sacred Deer

Elegía por un ciervo sagrado

A forest, a ritual, and a farewell. She, firm, holds a sword as if guarding a secret. Around her, figures that seem from another world, from another time. Perhaps they are here to mourn the deer or to celebrate its sacrifice. Everything seems to hold its breath, as if the forest itself were witness to an ancient pact.

Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 73x60cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

Elegia por un ciervo sagrado

 

 

 

My Walls are Fire

Mis muros de fuego son

They advance. The red house burns in whispers. Only the legs of a figure are visible, trembling between fear and urgency. They know there is no time; fate pushes them to jump. The air is charged with tension, each spark a promise of what is left behind. As they fall, they feel the echo of their courage resound, a moment of liberation before all they knew is consumed by fire.

Oil, spray, colour pencil on canvas. 162x114cm. 2024. Image courtesy of the artist.

Mis muros de fuego son

If you’re interested in acquiring artwork, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via email to hello@fireescape.art

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