Botond Gagyi

Botond Gagyi (b. 1992) is a Transylvanian contemporary artist living and working in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, acclaimed for his enigmatic portraits of fictitious people.

Characterised by solitary, introspective figures within muted-tone environments, Gagyi’s oil paintings are imbued with hidden stories, inviting viewers to reflect on the nuanced nature of an individual’s microcosm.

The figures in Gagyi’s paintings are often depicted in states of quiet apprehension, suggestive of a mysterious apparition. Cast within shadowy interiors, the figures in Gagyi’s paintings diffuse into abstracted layers of impasto paint to suggest a sense of movement and presence that constantly evolves on the canvases, inviting viewers to complete the image with their own vision and read a personal narrative into each work.  

Often inspired by a micro story, a randomly found tale of an avarage person or by classical painting references, Gagyi works from art historical motifs and found photographs that resonate with his own personal memories and collective trauma to construct painted realities of contemporary life. Through processes that are simultaneously constructive and deconstructive, the found and transformed digital image becomes alienated from its original content, springing into its own existence to be filled with new narratives. In choosing images of ‘ordinary’ people to paint from, Gagyi’s ethereal portraits demonstrate the transformative potential of oil painting and its capacity to imbue the mundane with wonder and mystery.