Szabolcs Bozó has gained recognition in recent years and is now one of the most sought-after young Hungarian painters. Originally from the Hungarian town of Pécs, Bozó was not always so well known: he began his career working in the hospitality industry in London and initially pursued painting as a hobby. He sold his first pictures on Instagram, where he quickly gained a following and was discovered by a Spanish gallerist. Bozó’s talent soon attracted increasing attention in the art dealing circuit and his works soon made their way to prestigious exhibitions and collections in New York, Venice, Hong Kong and other art capitals. His success story began in 2021, and he was the highest-selling living Hungarian visual artist in 2023. Szabolcs Bozó continues to live and work in London, where he maintains a studio and is represented by prominent galleries, such as one of the main partners of our exhibition, the Carl Kostyál Gallery, based in London, Milan and Stockholm.

Szabolcs Bozó’s playful, sometimes dramatic and sometimes humorous painterly world is rooted in the history and well-known characters of classical Hungarian animation. He, however, does not copy these figures but, drawing from memory, he reimagines them to populate his canvases and create exciting compositions. His colourful, large-scale pictures have become the new ’challengers’ in contemporary painting, with their sale and exhibition primarily managed, among others, by our exhibition partner, the Carl Kostyál Gallery, based in London, Milan and Stockholm. The Budapest exhibition not only introduces Szabolcs Bozó to Hungarian audiences but offers an insight into the management methods of contemporary art and the remarkable trajectory of an artist.

Our primary objective, however, is to show how Szabolcs Bozó’s art has evolved in recent years: his work has moved from what professional circles dubbed ‘cutism’ in a direction in which the psychological and social status of the painted figures has, albeit symbolically, become part of the pictures’ meaning. The artist’s earlier paintings, typically featuring a single character, were conceived in the simplified and deliberately naïve approach of artists like Yoshitomo Nara and André Butzer, while the ironically or grotesquely painted figures of his more recent, multi-figure compositions are mutually interrelated. These works can also be connected with different art historical references: viewed alongside artists such as James Ensor, Lajos Gulácsy or Menyhért Tóth, they express the fragility of the human psyche and man’s communal existence. This transformation becomes evident throughout the exhibition, opening the door to a more complex interpretation of Szabolcs Bozó’s art

Free audio guides are available to children and adults alike, both in Hungarian and English. These offer a deeper understanding of the exhibition in addition to the guided tour.

Visitor information related to the exhibition, valid in the spaces of NEO, is available by clicking here.

If you're not sure yet when you'd like to visit the exhibition, or if you'd like to give the experience of the exhibition as a gift, you can purchase a gift voucher here, which can be later flexibly redeemed for an entry ticket.

An exhibition catalogue - featuring the artworks on display at NEO - is also available.