Baltic Angst 1989

"Baltic Angst," a 1989 painting by Mark Kostabi, depicts a grotesque, pale figure chained to a cross, with a book engulfed in flames floating above. The scene is set against a backdrop of a cityscape at dusk, hinting at the artist's fascination with urban decay and societal anxieties. The figure's contorted limbs and unsettling facial features further emphasize the feeling of unease and despair that permeates the work. The painting's title and its symbolic imagery suggest a sense of existential angst, particularly in the context of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of a new world order.