Beneath the Canvas

Today's special blog post will be devoted to the exhibition of Zsuzsi Csiszér, a contemporary painter from Veszprém, which was recently opened in Várfok Gallery. The name of the exhibit, Journals, is an accurate summary of the atmosphere of the works presented, since most of them are the mementos of someone's daily musings and self-analysis in the mirror of the various impacts one encounters during the day. In that spirit, in her huge collages, Csiszér rips open the smooth canvas of reality, and scrutinizes the new associations and parallels between the fragments of tiny details and influences (ads, dreams, imaginary faces and landscapes) this reality is formed by. Using her brush as a scalpel, she drills small tunnels into the surface of things, and creates a new panorama to the chaotic mixture at the bottom of our, personal or collective, unconscious. Although her works are rather intrinsic, Csiszér manages to make a conversation with the outside world as well, because she addresses a number of external events in her pieces: she often uses bits of newspaper headlines and articles as a building material for her art for instance.

One of the artist's recurring motifs is the human face. Her large collages usually depict two or three faces from different angles, putting a great emphasis on the eyes, which have always carried the connotation of seeing the deeper essence of people or everyday phenomena. Still, some of these faces are painted with faint and nacreous colors, which sometimes create an artificial or kitsch-like effect. The paintings remain silent about the question whether this is a conscious and intentional thing from the artist's part, evoking the idealized images that mushroom in the media, or an inadvertent one. In this series, the pictures that portray aging people are way more interesting, since the fragmentary and deteriorating faces of old people resonate very well with the disintegratedness of the form itself.

Although the most impressive works are these collages, Csiszér also featured a number of witty and delicate installations made with different techniques. She grasps the subconscious of the typical female by displaying the same abstract and fractional elements on chopping boards for example. Also, the artist carved out a big papier macher figure solely from newspaper sheets, and made a miniature labyrinth out of tv program guides.
Still, one of the most intriguing objects in the gallery is probably an excerpt from the artist's actual journal, in which she ponders on her ars poetica and most inner feelings and thoughts; however, even here, her most intimate moments are stirred up by the menial happenings of daily life: one of her friends draws a small heart on her sheet of paper, or distracts her by talking to her about irrelevant issues.

Those who are interested in Csiszér Zsuzsi's above mentioned or other artworks can either check out her own blog: http://csiszerzsuzsicsiszer.blogspot.com/ or see the exhibition, which can be visited till 7th May.