Einspach & Czapolai Fine Art's exhibition titled Where We Meet, presents a selection of recent works by London-based artist András Nagy-Sándor. A central theme of the young painter's work, which he often tackles, is the question of "where does He end and where does the other (object or subject) begin". As an American-Hungarian dual citizen and immigrant in London, hybridity is a key factor for him, relating both to the constellations surrounding the topic of identity and, more importantly, to how we relate to each other and our environment in different types of environments - virtual, real, indirect, artificial and organic. Most recently, he has been fascinated by the growing focus on cyborgs, artificial intelligence, and discourses on mirror neurons, as well as research areas such as embodied sensemaking.

 

An important reference point for his earlier series was the world of armour, which both protects the fragility of the body and extends its limits. His interest in armour has led him beyond historical references to other fields, including real and fictional military and sports uniforms, as well as iconic pieces by celebrated fashion designers. His main inspirations during this period, to which he often returned, were the armour designs of Jacqueline West and Bob Morgan (in Denis Villeneuve's interpretation of the 2022 film Dune) and Thierry Mugler's iconic Harley Davidson corset.

 

Body armour is also closely related to the human ability to naturally redirect our consciousness to objects such as clothes (protective clothing, uniforms, etc.) and vehicles (cars, boats, planes), when we extend the boundaries of our bodies and through this, experience our environment in a different way. For Nagy-Sándor, this expanded field of consciousness and its investigation serves as one of the most important references.

 

Hybridity is also characteristic in his painting: he is linked to both the figurative painting tradition and the new abstraction movement. This allows him to build dialectical compositions in which organic forms can merge with rigid and structural profiles, the human with the non-human, the strong with the weak, and the robust with the limp and fragile. He enjoys extending the painted forms beyond the confines of the canvas -- suggesting that the composition is merely an "element" of some great whole, a momentary assemblage. His works often feature multi-headed creatures, as well as sexual references floating between androgynous characters and identities, and folktale figures such as the young prince, the young shepherd, multi-headed beasts, dragons, kings and princesses. However, the traditional male and female attributes coexist undefined, held together by abstract elements, gestures and colours. In addition to Hungarian folk tales, the visual heritage of folklore and the influence of Marcell Jankovics, Japanese anime and manga are also important inspirations. One of his all-time favourites is the late Kentaro Miura's Berserk, but he is also a big fan of comic book series such as Marshall Law by Kevin O'Neill and Pat Mills, some of which explore heroic tropes through very meticulous artwork. Nonetheless, beyond the inspirations, he never loses sight of the fact that painting has its own history, is embedded in its own tradition, and therefore symbols from other contexts can work differently in his realm, where signs, layers, textures and colours are his tools of storytelling. 

In creating the material for Where We Meet, the artist continued to explore the idea of boundaries and embodied perception, but this time he focused not on the "consciousness of the extended body", but on the possibilities of connecting the organic world with the mechanical elements. Based on this theme, he sought to construct a painterly world in which it is possible to imagine the mechanical or artificially constructed environment merging with plants and humans, and the resulting hybrids taking on the senses and functions of their creators.

 

//Mónika Zsikla//