Perception, observation and visual simplification play a central role in the work of graphic artist and visual artist Balázs Lobot. In his works, childhood experiences and defining visual impressions—whether peasant object culture, tribal art, experimental typography or the raw gestures of graffiti—blend with the minimalist aesthetics of early computer graphics. His images “do not shout slogans, do not intrude”, but rather invite free associations. The forms that appear are layered and crowded, just like the stimuli and information perceived in reality. The Printa edition's exhibition titled Trafik features a selection of the artist's latest works.
Opening speech by Fruzsina Kocsis, Hungarian language and literature teacher and literary therapist.
Word. Words. “The smallest unit of language and speech that has a phonetic form, grammatical form, and a specific meaning.” According to the definition of the Hungarian explanatory handbook, this is what a word means. The dryness and functionality of the definition takes away the soul of words. Our words – the words we all share – interact with each other, engage in dialogue. They talk, they tell. They create and give shape to the reality that exists within us and around us. They are signposts. What we do with them is no longer their business. They have nothing to do with it – we have to do with them. And we get lost in them, through them. Because often even words cannot bring order to the chaos. In the crowdedness of experiences and stimuli that overwhelm us.
Traffic. Traffic jam. What words describe it best? Let's say congestion, immobility. A state where time takes on a new meaning. It freezes, magnifies itself around us. Everything stands still. While the whole world pulsates, changes, throbs around us. It's not exactly motionless, like we are in a traffic jam. Our reality is rushing, constantly slipping out of our hands. Time too. It's also transforming, rumbling. It's drumming in our ears. Almost unbearably loud. Hurry up, move forward, don't stop! Sounds, slogans, and shouting surround us every day. We're not sure we know the meaning of this noise. We're not sure we can translate it. But we feel it's here. Because the reality of everyday life is loud, dynamic, and threatening. And this is where we should put things in order. Find safety. Through words. About which we can't say anything, only with the help of words. A snake of words that bites itself. It's hard to escape from here, it's hard not to get lost here.
But this is not the only reality. Balázs Lobot's paintings bring to life the experiences and impressions of life filtered through many sensitive filters. Colors, shapes, things. Lifted from the banality of everyday life, lifted from loud shouting, from threatening rumbling. These paintings know something that our words often cannot. They sensitively systematize shouting and overlapping experiences. They do not want to name them, they do not function as a dictionary. Red, blue, black say nothing. More precisely, they do not want to say anything. They do not shout slogans, they do not intrude. They lack effort. At all costs. They are airy, valid in themselves. They show, they make us see. The shapes, the figures appearing in the paintings, next to each other, in each other's shadow, freeze reality from the constraint of naming. In this universe, you can wander, you can observe, you can ask questions, you can slow down. These images invite you to somewhere else than where we would otherwise go, where we usually go. To a more colorful, more autonomous, more courageous dimension. Let's go with them while we can.
Balázs Lobot's exhibition titled Trafik can be viewed in the Printa edition gallery space between March 19 and April 18, 2025. The artworks and serigraphs presented at the exhibition are available for purchase, and details about the artworks can be found here .