Ákos Esse Bánki, the oar painter
Ákos has already created several paintings with the theme of oars. Now we present his latest work and the creator himself.
Ákos Esse Bánki, painter, actively creates, regularly participates in individual and group exhibitions and fairs with his works.
"Drawing and painting have been part of my life since childhood. When I was in elementary school, I discovered a Matisse album among the books at home. To this day, I still vividly remember how strongly the book had an impact on me, and it often happened that I turned and turned the pages for hours. Thanks to such influences, I drew a lot in my spare time. My parents also noticed this, and when I was 12 they enrolled me in a platoon. I realized that painting is not just a hobby for me, but much more than that. And from there I didn't stop until the University of Fine Arts."
The focus of Ákos' painting has been the depiction of different spaces for the past seven years. "The rooms that I used as motifs are emblematic and very defining for me, as I create and live in them. I am interested in interior as a classic theme, but the focus is not on the room, but on the effect it has on the individual living in it. What kind of interaction does a person have with his immediate environment, how much does what surrounds us every day become a part of us. When collecting motifs, I am often inspired by spaces that used to be part of my everyday life, but are now inaccessible to me or no longer exist. Last summer, however, I participated in Miszla, an artist colony where we were surrounded by a wonderful natural environment, and this impulse has defined my work ever since."
Nature has always played an important role in Ákos' life. "It was a huge experience for me when, at the age of seven, my grandfather pulled me out of the gray city life and took me down to the Romai to row. Rowing is a family tradition here, Papa bought a keelboat, Munyorgo, in the 50s - now a real oldtimer - with which my father and my wife still regularly row to the Lupa.
"Unfortunately, rowing and I were separated for a few years, but thanks to a coincidence, I ended up in the Budapest Rowing Association in 2010. Finally, I again met people who are enthusiastic fans of this sport, the environment absorbed me, my childhood world opened up, which as a child it was a summer program, it has now become a passion. Nothing proves this better than the fact that, in addition to the hiking rounds, I completed the Budapest-Baja several times. The shared experiences forged me with many people, I made new friends, and I even owe my wife to rowing, since we met in BEE, on the water".
Ákos Esse Bánki: Rowing, 2022. 50x120 cm (2× 50x60) oil on canvas picture.
You can see Ákos' latest rowing painting at the Budapest Cup, and later at the Grinder Fitness & Coffee Shop. The painting is available for purchase.
Article author: Szilvia Sinkovics
Photo: Katalin Nagy
