Both a graffiti writer and a bona fide visual artist, Vizsla Bacon’s murals are stunning and colorful. When he just writes his name, the letters are stylized but recognizable, creating a visually pleasing composition. His representational art often features young women, flowers, and animals in a dreamlike way: the skin of a character may glow like the sun reflected on ripples of water or appear to shine as if made of metal. Two things that came to my mind were: technical virtuosity and surrealism. Alexander “Vizsla” Bacon is a Toronto based artist who has been active since the 1990s. His roots are in graffiti writing, and he speaks affectionately of his graffiti writing community in an interview to Graff.Funk.
Visual artists are visual artists because they express themselves through…visuals. But how do we get into their heads to find out what their work means? Some artists are happy to talk about their inspirations and the meaning of their work. Other artists would never reveal their secrets in words, preferring that people interpret their work for themselves. Yet others may not be able to articulate what their art exactly means; maybe they were seized by a vision or idea that asked to be put on a surface and that was that. When asked about his inspirations and what he wanted to express, Vizsla Bacon had this to say in the same interview: “Sometimes I feel like my art is all over the place with subject matter and I just like painting certain things because I just want to have fun. I really don’t have one message or statement with my work. I think I want to go back to things I thought were cool when I was a teenager….”
To get into Vizsla Bacon’s head, you can prowl his Instagram. He posts no photos of himself, but there is someone else in many of his murals and photos: vizsla, the graceful and intelligent Hungarian hunting dog. “Truly man’s best friend,” he said of his companion on Instagram. We can only guess that he took Vizsla as a nickname in honor of his beloved dog, who passed after a good, long life. But for now at least, interpreting the rest is up to the viewer.
Written by Anna Vamos
