About

As a pre-teen I spent all my time drawing and painting, but later turned toward science, which also fascinated me. I never touched the sketching pencil again, but neither did I stop looking at the world with an artist's eye. Now, sixty some years later, I have begun create images that reflect all I learned from my visual experiences.

I keep trying to catch those magical moments when form and content come together. When they do, then there are no questions, no doubts, and no ambiguity: the image is just right. This is true for both painting and photography.

There is nothing subtle in my imagery. Color or black and white, it is intended to grab your attention and demand a "wow." Having been a scientist in my other life, I strive for technical perfection, but that is only the first stage. The second is when the image connects with the viewer. The third stage of the "wow" is the soul-crashing impact that is rarely achieved, but once seen never forgotten. A piece of art like that can be a life's ambition. You have to aim high.

Bio

Janos Lanyi was born in 1937, in Budapest, Hungary, and grew up during the difficult years of World War II and then the communist system that engulfed Central and Eastern Europe.

He developed an interest in the natural sciences, and studied Chemistry at the elite University of Sciences in Budapest. His sophomore year was interrupted by the Hungarian uprising of 1956. After it was put down with force by the Soviet Army, he escaped to Vienna, and soon made his way to the U.S.

In 1959 he received a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, and four years later a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Harvard. From 1980 until 2016 he was Professor of Physiology & Biophysics at the University of California at Irvine. His publications had been on colored proteins similar to the visual pigment of the eye.

Now retired from science, Janos travels extensively with his wife, Brigitte, all around the globe, searching out different lands, cultures, and peoples. He regards art, like scientific investigation, as means to understand the world and our place, as humans, in it.