"I am not I" is a series of auto-erotic nude studies of the artist, staged with a variety of props.

The athletic and occasionally contemplative poses are reminiscent of nineteenth century nudes, an impression further heightened by the use of such classical props as wig, sword and chair. By including an artificial phallus as a modern element, the theatrical poses and the seriousness with which Mikhailov strikes them, are undermined and rendered absurd. On grounds that the »I am not I« series included pornography, Boris Mikhailov's exhibition at the Krakov Art Museum (1995) was closed down the day before the official opening. However, this series hardly panders to such clichés of pornographic eroticism as the erect penis and the dominating macho stance. On the contrary, they are unmasked and grotesquely distorted by the very fact that they present Boris Mikhailov as an elderly man of melancholy and contemplative mien.

The histrionics end in banality, the mis en scène becomes ridiculous. The artist, subversive and ironic, proves to be an anti-hero.