Barnabás BENKŐ

One of the most important motifs of Barnabás Benkő‘s (1994) pictures is the gesture of hiding, covering up, not showing. His source of inspiration is street art and informal trends. The image surfaces divided by parallel strips are made up of several overlapping, masking layers, which create the illusion of different depths. We have the feeling that the original view was later covered with another layer, so that the one below is only partially accessible. The wild brush and spray marks emerging from the background open the range of interpretation to the dimension of time along with space; the visual traces of the events of the past seem to have been painted not by one but by several unknown hands, forming overlapping layers on the surface at different times. This aspect of the scene authentically evokes the competition of members, gestures, and signs appearing on graffitied factory fences, suburban concrete walls, and cracked plastered fire walls. In this visual cavalcade, the grid made of parallel strips creates some order, which on the one hand separates from the underlying layer, but on the other hand becomes an integral part of the scene in its color and patterns; it is integrated into the original, gestural system of the image. – János Schneller