Fatlanta

"Fatlanta"
Live Painting Series by Peter Bogdanov
Acrylic on canvas
"Fatlanta" is a surreal, symbolic portrait of a city in tension—between growth and decay, indulgence and transcendence, body and spirit. Painted live in Peter Bogdanov’s signature expressive style, the work presents two central figures: one earthbound and overgrown, the other alien and dissolving—a pairing that mirrors the duality of Atlanta’s soul.
The seated figure dominates the composition—headless, massive, and rooted. More monument than man, this form is swollen with presence and covered in creeping vines and blooming flowers, as if nature has begun reclaiming it. This is Atlanta as empire and entropy: a figure weighed down by consumption, still and silent, yet fertile. Life is growing from its stillness, even as it appears abandoned. The body becomes landscape—part relic, part soil.
In contrast, the second figure stands to the side—a green, winged humanoid with a flaming red head and melting lower limbs. Ethereal and otherworldly, this being feels transient, like spirit or signal—perhaps an artist, perhaps a prophet. Its wings are folded in, and its feet dissolve into puddles, as if it can’t hold its shape in this reality. The figure burns from above and melts from below. It is caught in the act of becoming—or disappearing.
Together, the two forms present a narrative of excess and elevation. One figure is fixed and overgrown, embodying the weight of history and indulgence. The other is fragile, volatile, and slipping away, representing fleeting genius, alienation, or rebirth through destruction.
The title "Fatlanta" anchors the image in place and tone—a nickname for the city that is both humorous and loaded. Here, it becomes more than slang. It’s a metaphor for modern urban existence: bloated with consumption, haunted by beauty, and split between flesh and fire.
This is not a traditional cityscape. It is Atlanta as idea, as myth, as contradiction. And in Bogdanov’s hands, it becomes a painting that doesn’t just depict a place—it dares to interpret its soul.