Zen I–II, 2002

Paper, felt-tip pen, watercolor pencil, adhesive tape, collage – variable dimensions

Bónyai Barbara’s Zen I–II diptych was created as part of the complex installation PANSEXCEXCOXBOX (2002), and is closely tied to its densely layered, visually saturated world. The two collages form a distinctive synthesis of character design, graffiti-like gestures, manga-anime aesthetics, and philosophical reflection, all operating within the tension field of pop-cultural quotations, commercial packaging, and Zen spirituality.

On one sheet, a standing figure appears – a Zen practitioner dressed in civilian, winter clothing, rendered in ochres and muted greens. The surrounding collage is composed of heterogeneous commercial visual elements: incense packaging adorned with Chinese characters, a popcorn bag fragment reading “Hip-Hop Mix,” and disjointed slogans and graphic motifs that evoke the fragmented registers of contemporary consumer imagery. These fragments create an ironic contrast between the calm of meditation and the noise of urban visual culture. The image not only reflects the tension between contemplation and the everyday world but also gestures toward a core principle of Zen practice: the necessity of acceptance and adaptation. Rather than rejecting reality, the practitioner must integrate and absorb it.

The second image depicts a monk seated in zazen, wearing temple robes. The figure – tonally composed of ochres, greens, and grayish purples – is set against a red background and outlined in white. Chinese characters and the word “zen” are also inscribed into the composition. The piece evokes both ceremonial stillness and the stylized visual language of contemporary character design, where contemplation meets pop iconography.

A striking formal element in both works is the full adhesive-tape covering, a hallmark of Bónyai’s paper-based works from this period. While the tape protects the drawings physically, it also intervenes aesthetically: its translucent, yellowish surface obscures and encapsulates the images like an odd lacquer or improvised lamination. This gesture transforms the pieces into sealed, archival objects, resonating with both the urban visual vernacular of the early 2000s and a personal impulse toward memory preservation.

Zen I–II belongs to the artist’s Contemplative Cycle (1999–2010), which aims at a meditative synthesis of abstraction and socio-cultural reflection, investigating the intersections of Eastern philosophies and Western urban culture. The presence of manga, cyberpunk, rap, and Zen within these works is not mere stylistic play, but a visual manifestation of an interdisciplinary and transcultural mode of thinking.

Zen I–II powerfully articulates this outlook: spiritual concentration meets visual overload, meditation collides with post-industrial imagery – yet the elements eventually settle into uneasy cohesion on the picture plane. These collages are studies in the fragile balance between Eastern contemplation and Western fragmentation – works that do not seek resolution, but instead sensitively articulate the paradoxes of contemporary consciousness and visuality.