About this Event
Liszt Institute London presents Biophilia, a one-of-a-kind exhibit reflecting on the parallels between biological and urban growth, featuring the thought-provoking combination of works by neuroscientist Dániel Barabási and photo artist Balázs Csizik.
The exhibition is organised around the concept of life and its different dimensions, as the duo combines the tools of science and fine art to present the central theme through a variety of media, from cellular organisation to networks of urban spaces and communities.
Join us for the opening on Wednesday, 12 November, 6.00 - 8.00 pm. The exhibition will be introduced by Dániel Barabási, and an at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
The exhibition will be on view for the public from 13 November 2025 - 16 January 2026, Mondays-Fridays 11.00 am - 7.00 pm.
The concept of life and its various definitions have largely determined the scientific and cultural discourses of the 20th and 21st centuries. Traditionally, when we speak of life, we think primarily of human existence, and we interpret the life of other forms of existence in relation to this. The concept of life has carried this duality since antiquity. In ancient Greek thought, two concepts with different meanings were used to denote life: zoé, which refers to mere life, natural existence, organic forms of existence, the self-organizing processes of nature, the self-maintaining biological processes of the body, while bios refers to life organized in form, political and communal existence, self-conscious action, ethics, and moral laws. The tension between nature and culture, between non-human and human existence, can be detected in the divergence between the two concepts. In the intersection of the modifications of meaning or even the vitality of these categories, we find the notion of life in constant change and in constant need of investigation.
The joint exhibition of Dániel Barabási and Balázs Csizik synthesizes the different dimensions of the interpretation and observation of life. Barabási is a neuroscientist who studies the cellular organization and developmental processes of living systems, the human body, and the brain. As a visual artist, Csizik works primarily in photography, capturing and manipulating natural, urban, and social phenomena using a specific formal language based on the aesthetics of constructivism. In Biophilia, Barabási's works organize and transform cells into abstract artistic compositional elements, while Csizik's restrained formal compositions involve sprawling organisms. Reflecting on each other, inspired by each other's methods, the two artists explore the different forms of life and the connections between them. They use the exhibition space as an aesthetic laboratory, a place for exploring the intersections between science and visual art, urbanism, sociology, environmental science, biology, and an experimental mix of different approaches. In their joint work, different concepts and forms of life make sense in a complementary and mutually reinforcing way.
Zsófia Máté, curator
Previously presented in New York, Brussels, and Stuttgart, we are excited to welcome the exhibition to London in November 2025.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Liszt Institute London, 17-19 Cockspur Street, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
