Norbert Oláh is a passionate fan of Józsefváros (8th district of Budapest). In recent years, he has sought the typical atmosphere of the district in many of his works. The painter does not approach from a sociographic point of view, but rather formulates a “noise-free”, clear picture of buildings, streets and squares. The canvases are lined with intersecting slabs of roofs and robust firewalls of empty plots, for which he chose the buildings of the beginning of the last century or the brick walls revealed after their demolition. In his latest series, he selects from the variegated architectural heritage of the district from a different perspective; the paintings of the Eighth Quarters exhibition were inspired by buildings whose spectacles are dominated by some kind of rhythm, repetitive geometric regularity. The buildings appear in an exaggerated perspective, on a uniform square pattern, where the artist contrasts the varied grays of concrete with the vibrant colors of the background. We can see both an uncharacteristic panel building from Leonardo köz, as well as iconic buildings in their history, such as the former MSZMP headquarters on Baross Street.

Norbert Oláh graduated from the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in 2016 in the class of Eszter Radák. Inaugurated internationally in 2020, with a monumental firewall piece which was exhibited at Parallel Vienna. Last autumn, the Józsefváros Municipality awarded him with the Józsefváros Culture Award.

1st June – 2nd July, 2021

Due to the epidemic situation, we will not organise an event on the opening day. Please keep an eye on the ISBN Facebook page for further related events.

Photo: Zsuzsanna Simon