István Bálind – Dog’s world

István Bálind has participated in nearly fifty solo and numerous group exhibitions. From the beginning, his work has been permeated by experimentation and using different, unconventional painting materials. He was interested in the extremes of aesthetic and artistic categories. In addition to painting, he has also worked with video and performance.

The dog motif is prominent in his work and has become a trademark in his art. She first appeared in her series ‘Woman with Dog’. The animal as a stylized figure gradually evolved into a more playful and animated form. Over the years, the composition was repeatedly broken up and the female body disappeared from the pictures. The use of colour has also become more varied, with the gold and red colours that dominated the early paintings being joined by the variegated, striped surfaces that also characterised the series that ended with the exhibition ‘Final Sale’. By 2008 the artist had added a lower body to the familiar dog’s head. Painted in a new style, the dogs, most often depicted in a sitting position, have since formed the basis of his series ‘Dog World’. In these works, the dog plays a dominant role, and in several of them, it is shown in association with a tree, another favourite subject in Balind’s oeuvre. The changes in the depiction of dogs reflect his artistic development.

At the Ladó Gallery exhibition, visitors can see István Bálind’s latest works, which operate with vibrant primary colours and simple geometric forms. At their centre is an unknown breed of dog that seems to be guarding something, enhancing the visual effect.