Unseen 2026

The subject of Tamas Dezsö's works is human and non-human, plant identity, as well as man's relationship to the environment, to nature, i.e. to the non-human. Through a variety of art forms and media – including photographs, sculptures, kinetic works, and installations – and with a strong theoretical background and research, he formulates the questions and problems that the ecological crisis and the impending climate catastrophe, i.e. our Anthropocene age, raise very sharply. Dezsö's works show the end of man's planetary dominance, man's blindness to everything that is not him, and the essentially unknown, silent world of the non-human world – nature, plants, insects, animals – trying to make them speak. The artist explores the traces in man that connect him to the environment and to plant identity, proving that our species is not superior, but only one among the organic and inorganic beings of the world. 

 

Part of the works on view belong to the artist’s iconic documentary series, which in 2015 was also published in English in book form under the title Notes for an Epilogue, published by Hatje Cantz. The series is the result of nearly five years of work, realized in collaboration with Eszter Szablyár, who wrote the accompanying texts for the book. It explores the complexity of Eastern European cultural and social identity and the legacy of the Ceaușescu dictatorship, while going beyond site-specific documentation: the images form a visual imprint of a broader interpretation of post-communist existence. Traveling through Romanian towns and villages, Dezsö captures the beauty of nature, abandoned industrial landscapes, traditions, and social fault lines; his images function both as documents and lyrical reflections.