Lyrical Abstract period

The beginning of the new era after the fall of communism is the overture of a new artistic era. May everything be just ‘different’, or at least be anything but what it was like before. Oil paint and synthetic resin on plexiglass instead of can- vas, and to top it all, let it be luminous!

 The works of Gábor Városi, created during his period of what he termed Lyrical Abstraction, do not, at first sight, seem to depart from the character of his earlier paintings, but present a continuation of sorts. His formal vocabulary still consists of geometric elements. The artist makes even greater use of the plasticity of the material to bring the forms he depicts to life in an almost organic manner, transcending their schematic simplicity. Combining the soft malleability of encaustic painting, the curious texture of resin, and the conservative elegance of oil paint, the surfaces, sometimes interrupted, are delicate and dramatic. By revealing the agony of the distorted and shrunken material formed by the creative hand, Városi’s intention is not to shock the viewer. With his pictures, he deliberately suggests a kind of embraced duality.

Drama and lyrical lightness? A seemingly paradoxical situation. Behind the works painted on glass, he intends to place – in a pictorially almost blasphemous way – a source of light. The transcendence of light penetrating through the layers brings the intangible into the very physical material. These paintings are not works meant for exhibition halls, but to enrich the home, the living space, which is not a place of spiritual upheaval. Although the works contain the drama of the material, they do not burden us with the weight of lead.

After all, art cannot only be cathartic. It can serve man even if it delights in the everyday. These works evoke the flickering of fire and embers, which do not want to grasp the soul but rather to caress it. Yet, they never fail to inspire the viewer to develop their own narrative. Abstract forms take on a strange life. These images invite us to contemplate in silence. They are some sort of profane domestic altars that communicate the spiritualization of material.

László Lelkes Munkácsy
Award-winning graphic artist