“I was actually ambivalent about how the virus affected my life ,"Akos Ezer admits in his report for Art in Uncertain Times. We checked in with the Hungarian painter who brandishes a bold brush in his expressive, physical pieces. "I decided to stay positive and put my extra time and energy into new works. That helps me speed up time." Here, in his own words, he describes what we’d say is the power of positive thinking.
"On one side, I cannot travel during the lockdown, quarantine situation, and travel restrictions in Europe. I had lots of plans for the year, so we are waiting and watching how things are changing during the time," Ezer tells us about thwarted plans to take part in two group back-to-back group shows with Galerie Droste in Germany, then Plastic Murs Gallery in Spain; after the opening in Wuppertal in early March, Europe started shutting down and the scheduled show in Spain opened virtually only a few days ago.
"On the other side, we are living 50 kilometers outside Budapest for the last 3 years, and our studio is also there. It’s a small village in the countryside, where we found the perfect combination of living and working in the same place. Basically, we are doing lots of things in the same way we did before the corona.
"I need to buy my tools, paint, and canvasses online, going out only every second week to buy our food and housecare equipment. We are cooking for ourselves, baking our own bread, pizza (minimum twice a week), walking with our dog a lot, and we started using video call apps to speak to our families instead of traveling there. That’s kinda weird, to meet only like that but we are happy that everyone is safe and well. Lots of our beloved ones working in the healthcare industry, so we decided to do the best. Staying home as much as we can and flattening the curve.
"During these times I am working on lots of new canvases, and started to work with ceramics also. I will adapt my characters in three-dimensional sculptures. That is something I planned months ago, but now I have enough time for experimenting. That’s really fun and gives new perspectives to express my thoughts. I only hate the drying time before they burn out and the glazing, as I can’t wait to see them in the final finish. I am in a lucky situation because my partner, Mira, has her own ceramic oven, and she can help me in technical things, so we can do all this also at home.
"The new pieces I'm working on are planned for the show with Galerie Droste in June. I already built the lifesize 3D model of the space virtually and started to work on the pre-visualization of the show, making renderings with the newest artworks. I am making preparations, so once things calm down, I will be ready. Later this year I will have a show at the Artkartell Projectspace in Budapest, a non-profit exhibition space where I'm planning to show only my largest scale canvasses all together."
Text compiled by Sasha Bogojev
