Balázs Vernes: Of Superheroes and NFTs
Artist Balázs Vernes just celebrated the launch of the 'Superheroes Series' with Ukrainian brand TTSWTRS. He talked to L'Officiel Austria about NFTs, the power of words in images and their creation processes.
Balázs Vernes and TTSWTRS created 11 superheroes for their latest 'Superheroes Series'. The label, which has just opened a futuristic store in Vienna's 1st district (Gluckgasse 1), is not only well-known in Ukraine with designer Anna Osmekhina, but has also outfitted stars such as Kylie Jenner and Nicki Minaj.
How would you describe your art?
Balázs Vernes: "My art is definitely a mixture of texts, illustrations, paintings and a kind of collage-like composition of various elements from pop culture, comics, illustrations from the last centuries and a small drop of socially critical cynicism. A big influence has always been my work as a graphic designer. That's why my paintings are conceptualised even before they get onto the canvas. They then develop further and further in the process. I think the term pop and/or street art sums it up quite well, but personally I always struggle to title it."
You work with different materials - how do you develop your works?
Balázs Vernes: "As I said before, my work as a graphic designer is one of the biggest influences in the creation of art. Therefore, the fear of working with a spray can, varnish or even putty on the painting is often eliminated. Especially considering that what is super easy to do digitally, create layers, I then have to do analogue. Often a very messy process until it becomes exactly how I imagine it."
"It happens more and more often that a quote pops into my head and the image emerges almost immediately."
One finds quotes and poetry in your works. What inspires you to do so?
Balázs Vernes: "I just had to laugh, because my closest friend always jokingly says that I paste my mental problems all over the world. Be it a mural in a restaurant or on a canvas. In all honesty, the quotes or sayings are very often a very accurate reflection of my inner states of mind. They don't always have to be negative, but are often moments of calm. That was also an essential part of the campaign for TTSWTRS. The team asked me to write my thoughts on the campaign photos. This resulted in quotes like 'life is golden'."
Is the quote there first or does the idea develop during the painting?
Balázs Vernes: "That's an interesting question. At the moment it happens more and more often that a quotation pops into my head and the painting develops almost automatically as a concomitant. But the process remains flexible, sometimes this way, sometimes that way, I would say. Sometimes this process is almost like idling in the brain and I write things down without really having active thoughts about them - in other words, I put my gut feeling on paper."
NFTs have really exploded on the international art market in the last two years. How does the Austrian art scene view this form of digital commerce?
Balázs Vernes: "NFTs are an exciting topic, where I fortunately was able to gather my experience very early on. I see the potential very strongly in the authentication of works, but I could talk about this endlessly. As is so often the case in Austria, many are still asleep here, but there will be definitely an upswing. Right now I'm working with the scene venue Treehaus on their own NFT assets, which will not only be simple collectibles, but also be able to allow access to certain events or secret menu items."
Tell us about your plans for 2023 and 2024?
Balázs Vernes: "I'm definitely planning a solo exhibition in Vienna in 2023, also outside Austria in 2024, and I'd like to work on my art abroad for that. I have a few locations in mind, but as they say: 'all in due time'".
Photos: TTSWTRS, Portrait: Philipp M. Ernst
