We started talking about the exhibition Works on Paper in the first months of the gallery's work in 2019. Tiberiy instantly reacted to the fragility of our "naked" walls and suggested this series as a response to the space.
Works on Paper was born out of the artist's attention to the studio garbage: magazine pages, which he usually uses to wipe his brushes. Covered with several layers of oil paint, these pieces of paper attracted Tiberiy by the literal presence of the invisible Other—signs, words, messages—behind the painting. For Tiberiy, the invisible is one of the key elements of painting. He does not paint as much as he "grows" an artwork: behind the monochrome surface there are layers of other colours / textures that form the internal structure of the work. Invisible to the viewer, but key to Tiberiy's method, these layers are witnesses to the artist's work, which is impossible to grasp by just looking at the work.
In Works on Paper, Szilvashi strips the printed press of its utilitarian nature, moving it from the world of messages to the world of physical presence. His works do not depict or signify anything. They are just there — scraps of paper, layers of paint that decay right before our eyes. In the summer of 2023, when the informational reality is taking over from the physical one, these fragile yet powerful paintings become perhaps the most important artistic statement. Created five years ago, they have misled time in the best artistic tradition.
