Stolen Facades

The political and economical changes in Hungary (1989) became visible on the streets as well. The elements of the „communist” life standard, the propaganda messages, monuments disappeared very fast and a new society has slowly developed with its new symbols and visuality. I realized the facades in Budapest are very often partly renoveted or repainted at the very begining of the ´90s.

No matter, it was a private, community or official building, the owners decided to do at least something, just to have a clean situation at their territories. Mostly the old buildings were in terrible condition, so the easiest to do painting the facades.

The result was very controversial: most of the painted areas were reather small and their shape represented somehow the owners’ way of thinking on their privacy and territories. This personal activity reminds me as a kind of artistic movement. It could be a modernist painting action – without the context.

The title of the series implies the situation as well, the stolen objects (bikes, cars) often are repainted to hide their origin.

Csaba Nemes