You Thought That It Wouldn’t Hurt Because You’ve Had It Many Times Before

You Thought That It Wouldn’t Hurt Because You’ve Had It Many Times Before / Ти си мислеше, че това няма да заболи след всичко досега

charcoal, pencil and lumograph on 300lb Fabriano Aritistico paper

Image size: 52 x 73 cm
Paper size: 56 x 77 cm
Framed size: 62 x 93 cm

Title credit: Svetoslav Todorov - writer, editor, correspondent
Collaborating since 2019

Anton Teziev, 06. 2024

Photo: © the artist
Courtesy of the artist

From No Time For Losers series (2019-)

Fotomaterial used: UFC 219: Cyborg vs. Holm

You Thought That It Wouldnn’t Hurt Because You’ve Had It Many Times Before/ Ти си мислеше, че това няма да заболи след всичко досега

outtakes (cellphone pix)

In Anton Terziev’s pencil drawing You Thought That It Wouldn’t Hurt Because You’ve Had It Many Times Before, two female fighters lock in a raw, sculptural struggle, every muscle and shadow rendered with razor-sharp precision. Their fierce expressions and taut forms convey both physical strain and the fragile humanity beneath, while a minimal background freezes this cinematic moment of combat. Yet Terziev also interrogates society’s hunger for spectacle—where public appetite for violence feeds modern anxieties and aggressive impulses. The fighters become avatars of Western moral decay, aggression normalized and empathy eroded in a culture that thrives on conflict as entertainment. Through dynamic lines and dramatic contrasts, Terziev turns voyeuristic impulse into a stark mirror, urging us to confront our own complicity in the spectacle of violence.