TAMARA HADDAD, SZILARD HUSZANK

–^{—Blaise Pascal}

Landscapes of the Mind: Fiction & Reality broaches the subject of Nature and Environment; anurgent and ever-growing issue most of us choose to look away from or simply ignore. Presentinga selection of works by Tamara Haddad and Szilard Huszank, this painting exhibition proposestwo different viewpoints, approaches and techniques, which in reality complete each other andhave similar intentions. Dual characteristics are omnipresent throughout the exhibition: beautyand destruction, factuality and imagination, figuration and abstraction, traditional andunconventional...

Szilard Huszank uses a layering technique to compose and create his wooded landscapes,which he refers to as ‘Landscape Collages’ (LC) or ‘Imaginary Landscapes’ (IL). Indeed, Szilard’slandscapes are assembled in a very particular manner that puts forward some motifs and hidesothers. The artist borrows familiar elements from nature such as branches, trees, leaves ormountains and renders them unfamiliar by his use of vivid colours, leaving the viewer unable toswiftly grasp the complete image. Characterised by these vibrant and anti-naturalistic colours,Huszank’s pictorial landscapes become fictional enchanted gardens. Pristine and untouched,they seem very far from our urban world and away from human life.

Although there are no apparent humans in Tamara Haddad’s work either, their presence iscertainly more noticeable. Tamara’s work focuses on the immensity of the Earth, its generosityas well as its infinite textures, resources and colors. Through her rocky landscapes, the artistsheds light on important issues such as deforestation, global warming, wildfires and pollution.Haddad searches for beauty and inspiration in some of the world’s most impressive forestsincluding those of Nepal, Tibet and Lebanon, where she gets hold of earthy elements that sheadds to her oil paintings. Her work is an invitation to rejoice in the undeniable splendour of ourEarth while sensitising the viewer to its equally undeniable fragility.

This exhibition brings together two different bodies of work, both focusing on nature. WhileSzilard Huszank presents a somewhat utopic and imaginary landscape, Tamara Haddadconfronts us with a more accurate representation of our environment.