The works of young Hungarian photographer Balázs Csizik (1987) observe the materiality of urban environments. In the landscape-like pictures of the Synesthesia series, representation of the stylistic features typical of Eastern European socialist architecture is combined with the formalism of abstract art. The color gradiations and depth effects of the works carry synesthetic connections, thus creating an isolated, dysthopian nature, the artist puts post-socialist visual culture in a different perspective. Prima Materia examines urban artefacts, elements of the city that serve as a temporal, spatial, mental reference points. Csizik’s modifications expand the urban space in the relation of space and time, while human figures lose their human, social role in their frozen state. The artist reflects on abstract photography, contemporary architecture and the tradition of constructivism and suprematism. The reductivity of his works carry a certain rigidity and distance, in harmony with the alienated form of the displayed urban scene.
