A kaleidoscopic crowd of cartoonish characters emerges from a speckled backdrop, among them a curious pink flamingo and a green caterpillar with a giddy grin. They’re all side-eyes and elbows, jostling with energy. The work, A Csigák Istene (The God of Snails) (2021), comprises acrylic, oil, spray paint, and oil stick. ‘The characters are a way for me to fill the canvas with colors,’ says the Hungarian artist Szabolcs Bozó, who catapulted onto the London art scene in 2018 after he was discovered on Instagram. ‘In a weird way, I imagine how, for example, the color green would look if it were a living thing.’

Born and raised in the Hungarian town of Pécs, Bozó moved to London in 2011 at age 19. He worked in a restaurant and sketched in his spare time, often on order pads. In 2017, he took a shared studio in east London with three friends, where he started painting and experimenting on a larger scale. ‘Drawing continues to be the starting point,’ Bozó tells me, explaining that he enjoys the simplicity of mark-making. ‘It’s a fast, honest, and direct way of materializing what has been in my head that day.’ He’s inspired by the animations and books filled with Hungarian folklore and mythology that he consumed as a child, though he doesn’t always have a specific figure in mind: ‘It might start out as a candle holder and develop into a deer.’

A show with Almine Rech at Palazzo Cavanis in Venice this summer takes inspiration from both Hungarian and Venetian costumes and masks. Bozó hopes to continue using imagery rooted in his heritage while also incorporating new experiences and ideas. As for future projects, he’s raring to bring his colorful characters to the streets. ‘I used to have a studio near the Bank of England, surrounded by skyscrapers, and I’d like to make one of my figures come to life on one of those buildings.’

Szabolcs Bozó is represented by Almine Rech (Paris, Brussels, London, New York, and Shanghai) and Semiose (Paris).

Chloë Ashby is an author and arts journalist based in London. Her first novel, Wet Paint, was published in 2022.

Published on April 11, 2023.

Caption for full-bleed images: Szabolcs Bozó, Pink Dilemma, 2022 (detail). A dark filter was applied over the image for readability. 2. Portrait of Szabolcs Bozó, 2022. Photo by Eva Herzog. Courtesy of the artist and Almine Rech. © Szabolcs Bozó.