Artist's commentary on "Apocaypse"

Initially inspired by an engraving by Albrecht Dürer, my painting represents a modern day version of The Apocalypse, which can be read in chapters 13 and 14 of St. John's book of Revelations.

I spent around 700 hours on this project (during the French heat wave of 2003!). I have hidden numerous details and a few jokes throughout the canvas, and last but not least, my own interpretation of some of St. John's prophesies.

Before I go any further, I would like to stress that I do not consider myself religious, but over the years I have developed a "mathematical" faith which takes the idea of prophesy very seriously. Please go to http://adriankenyon.free.fr/.

The small group of people worshipping The Seven-Headed Beast are, from left to right, Queen Beatrix of Holland (always present at "Bilderberg" conferences, which I will refer to later); the ex-CEO of Enron, doing a fraudulent deal with his accountant, Anderson; Ronald McDonald; fanatical Zionists and Americans; myself; Lord chief justice Woolf (complete with wig, dress, stockings and high-heels); Joe Public; and finally, the biggest beast worshipper of all, Pope John Paul II. The two men smiling and waving on top of the pile of skulls are, from left to right, Tony Blair and George W. Bush.

In and amongst the rubbish, you can find G. W. Bush's American Express card; a cigarette-smoking skeleton; The World Trade Centre; Osama Bin Laden; bullshit (the main ingredient in "freedom fries", overflowing from the U.S. Army's wheelbarrow); and over 100 logos from the biggest multinational corporations (always present at "Bilderberg" conferences).

In the middle ground, on the left-hand side of the painting, you can see a yellow bulldozer with a McDonald's logo on its roof, driven by Ronald himself! He's tearing down the tropical rain forest and replacing trees with cows (there's one to the right of the bulldozer). Just to the right of which is another species of dumb animal: American soldiers. Here they are seen leaving the defoliated wastelands of Vietnam for the unwelcoming desert of Iraq. The line of soldiers is walking alongside The Beast of the Land: a symbol of great authority. On the right-hand side of the middle ground is the sinking of the "Prestige" oil tanker.

In the central back-ground there is a concentration of smoke belching chimneys, next to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, also mentioned by St. John in chapter 8, verses 10 and 11: "The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the fountains of water. The name of this star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became Wormwood, and many men died of the water, because it was made bitter". Amazingly, the Ukrainian word for Wormwood is Chernobyl! For more details on this disturbing prophesy, look at http://ryanj1678.tripod.com/christianity4today/id37.htm.

In the upper part of the painting there is God amid three angels, one of which has given a "mortal wound " to The Seven Headed Beast. In the clouds I've hidden The Devil, the four horsemen of The Apocalypse (and their horses), a few skulls, an angel blowing a trumpet, and finally, an embryonic symbol of re-incarnation.

Now I will explain my own interpretation of some of St. John's prophesies. One of the most enigmatic symbols in Chapter 13 of Revelations is The Seven Headed Beast. I have identified it as the ultimate "big brother", a power hungry, man-made conglomerate of politicians, scientists, economists and religious leaders (namely The Vatican). In St. John's words "And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and blasphemous names upon its heads" If you look closely at the horns, you can see the names "BILDERBERG" and "ILLUMINATI"(the lower letters read from left to right form the name "Bilderberg"; the upper ones spell "Illuminati") If you want to check out either of these dubious organizations, just look on the Internet and draw your own conclusions!

Further on in chapter 13, St. John wrote "One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth followed the beast in wonder" To me, this is indicative of scientific research in genetic engineering and other experimentation, which is hell-bent on finding a way to defy death itself! Recent experiments have successfully re-animated fossilized microbes some 250 million years old...go to http://longevitymeme.org and http://www.mhrc.net/ancientDNA.htm.

In the outstretched paw of The Seven Headed Beast I have depicted the logo of "ITER" (International Thermo-nuclear Experimental Reactor); This is probably the most cutting edge science on the planet today. Basically, ITER uses the nuclear fusion of hydrogen atoms to produce energy. It is exactly the same reaction that makes the Sun burn. Despite temperatures around 200,000,000°C, the reaction can be photographed through an observation port (made of glass)! A magnetic field of incalculable power contains the heat. Chapter 13 verse 13 says, "It (the beast) works great signs, even making fire come down from heaven in the sight of men."

Verses 16 and 17 continue, "Also it causes all, both great and small, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or fore-head, so that no-one can buy or sell unless he has the mark." Today, in the U.S.A., there are at least three companies manufacturing sub-cutaneous micro-chips for human use! One company, known as "Verichip", has used for their logo a truncated pyramid topped with an all seeing eye: a symbol associated with the "Illuminati".

Verse 18 gives us an obscure clue to the identity of the beast "This calls for wisdom: let he who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six" I must admit that I have no idea what it means, but in my painting I coiled the beast's tail to make three sixes, which I think is pretty clever. Sorry if this is a bit disappointing. However, recently I heard a theory that there is a plan to I.D. everyone with an "invisible" tattoo on the forehead. A bar code of 18 digits, divided into three sets of six! For more on this go to www.thirstforjustice.org.

Despite all the criticisms I am making against our society, I consider myself to be taking part. (Even though I have never driven a car nor flown.) No one can live outside "The System" if they want to be heard. However, I still have faith that things will change for the better somehow.

I would like to thank you for having taken the time to read this explanation. If you have any comments or questions then I would be delighted to hear from you. By e-mail: adrian DOT kenyon AT wanadoo DOT fr. Web-site address: http://adrian.kenyon.free.fr