Execution by Anastasia Ciupac
The Balkans have a very rich history of the little guy getting fucked over.
Choosing a life of crime is one way to fight against oppression. Of course, it will ultimately prove a false battle because the criminal eventually becomes an oppressor himself.
The cat’s head is a symbol of the bona fide criminal in East European underworld subcultures.
The eye in the mouth represents the criminal’s reformation through art.
Like the gangster rappers in the United States of America, he saw another way of living through expressing himself.
From an article written by Roberto Saviano in issue 17 (2010) of The Drawbridge literary newspaper:
“Art becomes your life, not because it brings everything together but because only your art can keep you alive and guarantee your future. There is no alternative to fall back on.”