László KARÁCSONYI is a true universal artist. He has worked with almost every technique on every scale, from miniature dioramas to life-size installations to murals on the sides of ten-story residential buildings. He seeks new possibilities in every surface and object, weighing how it could become part of the ‘Les Xmas’ galaxy. He masterfully combines the gold standards of art history with contemporary pop culture in his paraphrasal works, be it a ‘horror rococo’ or a ‘hyporealist’ work.
While Ágnes GAZDAG’s works can be interpreted as good-natured ribbing, KARÁCSONYI’s interpretations are practically trolling. With his provocative, sarcastic humor, he breathes new life into completed works, making excellent use of kitschy porcelain and tapestries, but he doesn’t shy away from children’s toys either. Lately, he has been inspired by prehistoric predators: dinosaurs. Like many others of Generation X who grew up behind the Iron Curtain, it was not Jurassic Park but the illustrations of the Czech painter Zdenek Burian (with his book Life Before Man) that put ‘dragons’ into his head.
Thanks to his boundless creativity, Hollywood monsters (Alien, Facehugger, Predator) have become popular figures in contemporary Hungarian painting.
Instagram: www.instagram.com/laszlo_karacsonyi
