Q Contemporary, in collaboration with Carl Kostyál, are delighted to present an exhibition of works on paper and inspirational animation by Bozó Szabolcs, (b. 1992, Pécs, Hungary), Austin Lee (b. 1983, Las Vegas, USA), and James Ulmer (b. 1981, Pennsylvania, USA).
All three artists explore the tragi-comic in their work, often taking as their point of departure characters and tales from the cartoons and films they watched as children, using them as a vehicle to express a child-like happiness, untrammeled by the pressures and trials of adulthood, but also a wistfulness or nostalgia for that time, often laced with a darker sadness or a sense of isolation and loneliness. Their subject matter becomes, in different forms, an exploration of the alienation of the human figure in our digital technocracy.
In addition to the works on paper on display by each artist, they have made a selection of cartoons and clips from animators they each admire. Austin Lee has made an animation especially for this exhibition.