'Free Your Mind & the Rest Will Follow' Exhibition, K Gallery Budapest
- 17 May 2023 3:51 PM
It was on display until 23 June 2023. Zsombor Barakonyi graduated from the Painting Program of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in 2001 and received his doctorate from the same university in 2007.
In 2005, he was awarded the Accademia Ungherese a Roma Scholarship in 2005, the STRABAG Prize in 2007 and the Leopold Bloom Prize in 2011. His works are included in numerous collections both in Hungary and abroad. He lives and works in Budapest.
Zsombor Barakonyi's paintings are distinctly recognizable. Over the past 15 years, he has developed a unique visual world and painting technique that simultaneously draw on centuries of art history, the golden age of Hollywood filmmaking and the skateboarding subculture of the late 20th century.
Barakonyi's visual language – which, at first glance, appears realistic, but is in fact rather abstract – reveals a truly postmodern spirit. He prepares the wooden panels that he uses for support with the skill and expertise of Renaissance masters, but, instead of using a brush to create his paintings, he uses stencils and acrylic spray paint (like it is done in graffiti street art). He is deeply inspired by classic film art, while his shimmering, luminous colours draw into question the very essence of the moving image.
His latest paintings – eight larger (100×150 cm) and eight smaller (50×75 cm) works – on show at the K Gallery once again depict the CITY.
In some of these paintings, Budapest’s most iconic locations are recognizable, including the Keleti Railway Station or Ferencziek Square (formerly known as Liberation Square). In other compositions, however, the subject may seem more unclear: are we looking at the actual CITY itself, or the idea of a CITY?
As an important addendum to the interpretation of Barakonyi's works, it is worth noting that he is also the author of the photographs on which his paintings are based; through his subjective choice of motifs, he objectifies the complex meaning of the city as a concept.
As the artist himself puts it: “My works offer the viewer a distinctively original approach to the urban experience. These magically transformed images draw on collective memory as well as the experience of cosmopolitan city dwellers to present a vision-like cityscape that is both personal and familiar.” - Noémi Szabó - art historian, curator of the exhibition
K Gallery Budapest
Address: 1053 Budapest, Magyar utca 44 .
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