Carlisle Berkley in Conversation with Artist, Botond Gagyi
Botond Gagyi in his studio.
Images courtesy of the artist and Riana Raouna Contemporary Art Gallery.
Artist Botond Gagyi explores the new reality of contemporary life through his dynamic body of work. Currently a PhD candidate at the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, Romania—where he is currently based— his research focuses on figurative representation under the sign of distortion. Gagyi, a trained painter, oscillates between construction and deconstruction, omissions, repainting, erasures, and the piling up of paint to explore a reality in the digital age where relationships have been made artificial. He is inspired by found images, personal photographs, memories, and our collective trauma. His work contemplates the framework of the flood of images around us to convey the excitement of contemporary life.
Botond Gagyi is supported by Riana Raouna Contemporary Art Gallery, which promotes the work of some of the most exciting emerging and mid-career artists from the international art scene.
MADE IN BED contributor, Carlisle Berkley, interviewed Botond Gagyi to discuss his practice of construction and deconstruction, distortion in the digital age, and future directions for his work.
Carlisle Berkley: Your process closely connects the construction and deconstruction of found images with social media’s reconfiguration of reality. Could you give MADE IN BED readers some insight into how you first became interested in this topic?
Botond Gagyi: For my first large scale compositions' sketches I used digital image-processing techniques. What fascinated me about this became evident very quickly. The digital process, containing limitless alternatives, meant the possibility of freeing oneself from certain limitations. I could manipulate the elements borrowed from reality in a way consistent with my vision and mold them into a specific artificial reality. I found it fascinating to depict a "scene" that was constructed out of elements of reality but was taking place in an imaginary space; an imagery where my figures are not particularly of this world, and the expanding and shrinking spaces create a sense of confusion in the viewer. Even though my paintings may seem surrealist, they do not represent the world of dreams. On the contrary, they are constructed out of very ordinary elements. The story of the average person, stumbled upon by chance, a micro-story deconstructed to the level of the day-to-day is the starting point of the painting process. As a result of the various, simultaneously constructive and deconstructive image-making methods, the found digital image gets alienated from its original contents. It becomes independent, just to once again be filled with new content, becoming a part of the image structure that’s being born in that moment.
Conquistador.
155 x 125 cm, oil on canvas, 2020.
CB: The artificial relationships that you associate with the digital age are themselves abstract. Algorithms take the individual aspects of a whole and combine them to convey a feeling or a complete image. How does this inspire you as a trained painter?
BG: The experiences, sensations and sentiments that have so far existed on the intimate side of the ego, the so-called “material ego”, have migrated to the digital cloud. According to Edward Mendelsen, this kind of extended subjectivity, the internet, is the masterpiece of human civilization. Its magical quality comes from the fact that it can translate the experience of dense, material reality into a seamless, weightless and fantastic abstraction. If a figure of any kind appears on an abstract surface, that suddenly starts a much more complex relationship structure. The artwork will gain a wider connotative space. I like to treat this chaotic thing as a whole, not just painting itself, but everything that can, in one way or another, be the means of new perceptions.
CB: Your doctorate research is focused on figurative representation under the sign of distortion. The topic is also manifested in your art. Is the act of distortion an emotional process for you as an artist?
BG: My paintings are based on the paradox between rough-and-ready spots reminiscent of gestural painting and tiny, intricate details, all the while staying figurative, yet at the same time gaining distance from that to a certain degree. We often encounter different methods of figurative representation, but these are never in the center of attention, merely an accessory to the montage composition. The starting point is a detail borrowed from our day-to-day life that gets taken out of its original context and is strained through my visual memory and experiences, creating a new picture, molding it into a specific artificial reality. Through these interpretations I think that distortion is based on emotional dimensions too.
Backstage Symphony.
170 x 150 cm, oil on canvas, 2021.
CB: Many artists have historically used distortion and trauma as pillars of their practice—for instance, Francis Bacon. How do you view this art historical precedence? Does it challenge you as an artist?
BG: Throughout the course of art history, the representation of the body was undergoing constant changes, and these were reflections of the attitude regarding the subject matter. The body can be interpreted as fiction or even as the aggregation of mental representations. In contemporary art, the body becomes a basic element of the strengthening of identity. It’s a milestone we can refer to in order to experience and express ourselves. Bacon's art is figurative; however, his work does not want to engage our interpretive, conscious mind. Instead, by shutting that off, he intends to affect our instincts. The visual world created by him and his contemporaries is fragmented, bizarre and often shocking, but by deforming he was looking for a way to express the characters’ deeper being, capturing their essence. Violence as abstraction explodes into the composition of softened, quartered or broken figures. These are the signs of trauma, signs that although in different ways, different forms, are still present in each and every one of us. The connection to this kind of visual world came naturally to me, however from a self-expressive standpoint, I consider it a great challenge to express the hidden contents on the canvas in an authentic way.
Supermoon.
200 x 190 cm, oil on canvas, 2021.
CB: The figures in your paintings are often colourful and fashionably dressed, but they also appear alienated from the viewer and the rest of the world. Do you think that with contemporary fashion and culture becoming increasingly accessed through digital media it is becoming less authentic and more distant from reality? Is this dangerous or does it have the potential to be positive?
BG: Since they are only seemingly together (because they are around an object in the painting), the figures that have been ripped out of their context reference artificial relationships and their abstract nature. Oftentimes, the liberated gesture perhaps condenses into itself the illusion of life pulsing, meanwhile we become aware that we are merely witness to life-simulacrum. It is a contemporary phenomenon, since in online spaces we come across countless manipulated pictures and videos. The illusion seems so real that the viewer becomes unsure of themself, and maybe even feels deceived. It can be a dangerous game with a positive outcome. As it concerns contemporary culture, in the case of galleries, digital media is decisively a positive tool, because, for example, they are able to instantaneously upload their artists' work to artistic platforms regardless of their location, guaranteeing a large audience in a very short time. Authenticity stays the same, although the consumer experience is different.
Absent State.
200 x 190 cm, oil on canvas, 2016.
CB: There is a universal quality to your work, and it is hard to pinpoint your figurations in an exact place in time and space. Are you at all interested in exploring more scientific topics— such as the universe/cosmos in your art?
BG: The source of this ambiguity is the fact that I usually let chance affect my work. In this way, I take more of a risk while I work on a painting. That is, I don't always execute a pre-concept, however I do have an idea, and during the act of creation I try to pay attention to these accidents. Often these things that happen purely by chance give me much better ideas. I let the story of the painting progress in totally different directions. The game between the painting technique and the pierced-through bodies is a very important part of my works. They are not suspended on a thematic skeleton, so to speak, but there is a guiding principle that could be based upon several notions simultaneously.
CB: Your technique involves constructing and deconstructing, omissions, repainting, erasures and the piling up of paint— have you ever explored any other mediums?
BG: I’m constantly feeling an urge to experiment with new techniques, materials and tools, and to further explore different technical challenges. During my university years, I was trying to focus on achieving some results in the field of drawing and digital image-generation, and that has contributed to the evolution of my painting too.
Magnetic Fields II.
170 x 150 cm, oil on canvas, 2021.
CB: In your recent Monument of the Future series, you have explored abstraction and artificial digital relationships. Would you care to share any new ideas you would potentially like to explore in future series?
BG: I would like to explore many artistic directions in the future, not only from a thematic, but also from a stylistic perspective. I'm interested in numerous ideas, but these need time to crystallize. I reckon that figures will gradually gather more and more attention in my work, mixed with surrealist effects.
Thank you Botond!
The paintings of Botond Gagyi are available online through Riana Raouna Gallery.
For more information and enquiries, please contact the gallery at mailto:info@rianaraouna.com
Carlisle Berkeley,
Contributor, MADE IN BED