Gondola Painting

b. 1992 in Tîrgu-Mureş, Romania, lives and works in Cluj, Romania. My name is Botond Gagyi, I'm a painter of Transylvanian origin (Romania) who was born in Târgu-Mureș but is living and working in Cluj-Napoca. I studied fine arts at the University of Art and Design of Cluj-Napoca, where I earned my Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree. At the moment I am attending the same university as a Phd student. I attended several group excursions both in my country as well as in foreign countries, as a result of these the list of my solo exhibitions has broadened. As a winner of a series of exhibitions organized in 2017, I had the chance of showcasing my paintings at the National Gallery Prague (Trade Fair Palace, National Gallery Prague, Prague, Czech Republic) within the framework of a group exhibition, which is known as an event by the name of Start Point Prize 2017, Prize for European art graduates. The body became the expression of physical and emotional human experience. In this way, my paintings are not about a false representation of reality, but rather the concealing of the notion that reality is no longer real. At the same time it is important to keep in mind that these illusionary worlds have their bases in reality, seem inexhaustibly rich, but in fact they represent a world lacking space and dimensions. By the making of the Monument for Future, my recent series, I try to aim for the problematization of this particular abstraction. In this way, the oil paintings figures, which are taken out their context, by the fact that they are just seemingly together, refer exactly to these artificial relationships and their abstract nature. The frequent loose gesture maybe comprises in itself the pulsing life’s illusion, while we see that we are just simulacrum witnesses of life. This is the story that I try to compress into every one of my paintings: the excitement of life. The experience is born between the omissions, repainting, erasures and piling up of paint. Thank you for Your attention!