Pantocrator Gallery presents a solo exhibition by Hungarian artist Bence Bakonyi. 

The buildings, streets and pedestrians of Xuhi recalls as home for many. But for the maker of these photographs, the depicted places belong to a completely unknown world, which he got closer to only through the making of these pictures. It is wonderful to record a scene because a reified memory never fades. By immortalizing a moment, we also take posession of it: it becomes ours. Bence Bakonyi familiarized with Shanghai by recording his experiences, taking posession of more and more locations of the city. The City of Lights series is an account of how the artist found his home in the unknown. And because home is where one can find himself, the photographs can also be seen as the artist's self-portraits projected onto Shanghai. Bakonyi's artistic mode of expression is characterized by harmonic compisitions, well- ordered spaces, and the moderateness and elegance that stems from the use of delicate pastels. His works have a slight surreal atmosphere as well, which is also manifest in his Shanghai series. The photographs are primarily documentative, but the artists's use of light and colour – the portrayal of nightime lights in bright daylight – nonetheless distances them from reality to a certain extent. In Bence Bakonyi's series we can see the city as it is presented by the photographer, but also the artist who is in turn brought closer to us by Shanghai.

-Pantocrator Gallery

Image: © Bence Bakonyi