Exhibition: October 5 – October 26
Venue: Virág Judit Gallery

László Paizs’s artistic interest in technical-genre experimentation was not satisfied by the range of Post-Impressionist works, mostly commissioned in the early 1960s. The liberating experiences of the 1964 Venice Biennale, Dadaism and Pop Art focusing on materiality, their perception and use of artistic objects inspired the “stitched” works made of textiles, leather and metal that Paizs sent to the annual exhibition of the Studio of Young Artists’ Association in 1967. However, the staggering novelty of his works was not met with enthusiasm: the jury took his works off the wall before the exhibition opening. Following the rejection, as the result of a long technical-technological experimentation, the artist’s now iconic Plexiglas works were born. In the colorless Plexiglas blocks Paizs initially included objects that showed continuity with the use of materials from the previous era, then he used everyday tools.

Following the works, which can also be interpreted as pop-art objects, the artist was preoccupied with making the most of the technical-aesthetic possibilities of Plexiglas and polyester as sculptural raw materials, thus creating constructively inspired, transparent, internal refractive sculptures. In the 1980s Paizs, like several of his contemporaries, rediscovered the genre of monumental panel painting and started to depict the human figure. The artificial destruction of polyester applied to the pressed plate and the factual richness created by the variety of techniques used, show a clear departure from the method of composition based on geometric principles. In addition, it allows for subjective interpretations and the involvement of distant, collective cultural-historical associations. In the 1990s, the importance of the human figure was further strengthened in Paizs ’work. The archaic connotations of the use of gold and silver on his lyrical paintings create a special unity with the technical innovations that define his entire oeuvre.