In recent years, István Losonczy has been working with a palette knife and a trowel rather than a brush. He mixes color series from factory–made oil paints, fills empty tubes with the key colors, and then applies the series without retouching to canvases with colored or gradient backgrounds. In his earlier “column” and “meander” type paintings, the tension between the foreground and background resulted in a powerful spatial and light effect.
His latest works, now on display, follow organically from these earlier series: the artist works with almost the same method, yet there is a significant change. The color sequences, the use of a palette knife, and the homemade calibrated tube colors have remained, but this time, the uniformly transitional color blocks have been replaced by complementary color spots placed side by side. These are in constant interaction with the colors of the transitional base, creating a subtle vibration on the surface.
As a result, the spatial experience is radically altered: instead of the fiery vertical columns he previously desired, Losonczy now gets a mysteriously shimmering, horizontal landscape experience from the canvas.