Goth-Martin-Smile-Fire-Vasarely
Martin GÓTH
Smile, Fire, Vasarely'

Martin GÓTH

Smile, Fire, Vasarely'

Year(s)
2021
Technique
acrylic on canvas
Size
70x50 cm
Artist's introduction

Martin Góth is one of the representatives of the young generation of Hungarian artists entering the art scene around 2020, who are developing a strong language of forms. On his acrylic tableaus, digital retro mixes with the theory of signs and subcultural icons. Martin Góth, born in Kaposvár, – following a detour to Berlin and Glasgow – graduated from the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in 2021, majoring in painting. His language of painting, which was then maturing, is constructed of schematized signs and pop-cultural motifs embedded in a geometric grid system. The basic organising theme of his images is the square mesh of old computer games and board games such as Tetris, minesweeper, tic tac toe or chess. The grid pattern is filled with the three-dimensional buttons, axonometric elements, pictograms and schematized icons familiar from early Windows. As curator Eszter Dalma Kollár explained, "the system of 8×8 cm squares and the 1 cm wide lines separating them is the base for each painting. Martin has filled these with a bunch of personal little stories, visual gags and fictional characters." The precise, pixelated aesthetic character of the digital retro-inspired form set is balanced by raw painting gestures, hand scribbles and graffiti marks. Góth's conceptual approach to art sometimes leaves the plane of the tableau and extends the playing field to the entire exhibition area. He has participated in several solo and group exhibitions in Hungary. He lives and works in Budapest. Gábor Rieder

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István GELLÉR B.
...it shall...'

István GELLÉR B.

...it shall...'

Year(s)
1973
Technique
tempera on paper
Size
42x60 cm
Artist's introduction

The geometric painting practice of B. István Gellér is unique among the aspirations of the Hungarian Neo-Avant-Garde. The emblematic structures of his 1970s artworks, which were constructed with softer lines, but edited with symmetrical rigour, are typical domestic examples of Pop art-influenced Signal Painting. One of the most critical issues of progressive Hungarian painting in the 1960s was the reconciliation of global trends and local traditions, which notion defined the artistic practice of Gellér as well. His passion for drawing led him as a child to Ferenc Martyn, followed by the free school of Ferenc Lantos. His trip to Western Europe deeply inspired him in the late 1960s. During his visit to London, he got acquainted with the work of Bridget Riley, Frank Stella and Victor Vasarely. Combining his recent international experiences with the local artistic traditions of Pécs, he developed an organic and symbolic geometric language. He sought to create an internationally relevant, locally inspired, but at the same time personally motivated artistic voice. His recurring motifs include the almost anthropomorphic, three-lobed, softened triangle, the "embracing" shapes, and the box-like space enhanced with a sense of depth utilising perspective. He endowed his geometric shapes – which filled the entire surface – with personal meaning far removed from the essence of Geometric Abstraction. He was less interested in theoretical problems than in the lyrical transformation of symbols. He worked on creating a "geometry of personal credibility" based on individual truths. Fanni Magyar

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Aladár ALMÁSY
“On behalf of Horatius” – Szechenyi plough is husking the top of the Amphora for Homer

Aladár ALMÁSY

“On behalf of Horatius” – Szechenyi plough is husking the top of the Amphora for Homer

Year(s)
2018
Technique
pastel, watercolour and ink on paper
Size
57x76 cm
Artist's introduction

Aladár Almásy is one of the most distinctive figures of the generation of graphic artists of the 1970s, whose graphic universe is defined by mystical-psychological symbolism, romantic sensibility and linguistic humour. Noémi Szabó, art historian, described his distinctive character vividly: "He is invested in a romantic-surrealist eclecticism, constructing a dream world far from the current age, full of pretension, but at the same time honesty as well." Born in Debrecen, Almásy completed his graphic studies at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts in 1976. In the 1970s, together with Imre Szemethy, he was the successor of the generation of graphic artists that had defined the previous decade and had established an important tendency and which was marked by the names of Béla Kondor, Arnold Gross, Csaba Rékassy and Ádám Würtz. His first works were etchings, lithographs, aquatints, mezzotints, and pen and ink drawings. His aesthetic world was characterised by jagged, fragmented draughtsmanship, dreamlike, surreal visions and playful linguistic humour. His numerous national solo exhibitions were accompanied by several international exhibitions. In his scandalous statement of 1978, he described himself as an individualistic dreamer: "My existence is a unique visual world of forms, determined by inner emotions, a pure inexhaustible world view, never committed to any fix direction." He gradually drifted towards painting in the 1980s, combining cloud-like patches of colour with his broken line work. His art, which looked to the past, evoked the poetic mood of turn-of-the-century symbolism, from the metaphorical enigma of Baudelaire to the nostalgic dreamscapes of Lajos Gulácsy. The heroes of his poetic narratives are often drawn from cultural history (István Széchenyi, Martin Luther, Zarathustra, etc.). Around the turn of the millennium, the medium of bronze sculpture also appeared in his œuvre, which embraces a wide range of techniques. His successful start to his career was accompanied by numerous state awards in the 1970s and 1980s. He lives and works in Budapest. Gábor Rieder

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Ilona KESERÜ
"Nothing is no way"

Ilona KESERÜ

"Nothing is no way"

Year(s)
1990
Technique
oil and mixed media on canvas
Size
200x140 cm
Artist's introduction

The central axis of Ilona Keserü Ilona's painting practice is provided by her forever-changing spatial and temporal relationship to colours, their research and their various manifestations. In the late 1960s, a definite, thematic tendency emerged in Keserü's work, which she simply called colour research. She wanted to expand her earlier red-orange-pink oriented palette, primarily towards the range of spectral colours. Thus, the range of colours that can be achieved through mixing certain pigments, the analysis of colour resolution, the gradual transition of colours and the upper limits of colour intensity became the subject of many of her works. In the early 1970s, Keserü discovered a wide range of skin tones based on the colour theories of Goethe, which harmoniously counterbalanced the vibrant colours utilised by the artist at the time. From the 2000s onwards, in many of her works, flesh colours appeared as a metaphor of the opposite side of the canvas. The latest stage in her ongoing colour research can be traced back to Keserü's 2001 trip to Rome. Looking at the cleaned surfaces of the ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, she was confronted with a new – however, common in Michelangelo's time – painterly-optical phenomenon, called cangiante. In essence, it is not the complementary or harmonic colour pairs that are placed side by side, but colour values ​​that mutually enhance each other's light and brilliance and where the choices are made based on personal colour preferences instead of logical reasoning. Keserü was captivated by these unexpected, resounding chords of colour, "sometimes hair-raising things", purple-blue, orange-green combinations, which then served as inspiration for many of her works. Katalin Aknai

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Dávid SZENTGRÓTI
(relic)

Dávid SZENTGRÓTI

(relic)

Year(s)
2017
Technique
acrylic and pigment on canvas
Size
184x154 cm
Artist's introduction

Dávid Szentgróti is one of the most outstanding abstract gestural painters of the generation that emerged following the turn of the millennium, who cherishes the decades-old tradition of colourism and non-figurativity typical of Pécs. According to art historian György Várkonyi, "Dávid Szentgróti's paintings meet the timeless criteria of the 'easel painting' in every respect. These paintings are about painting itself: about the first movement and decision (...), about the poetic possibilities of the "application" of paint, the mixing/blending of colours relying on a variety of technical solutions, and the unfolding poetic possibilities." Szentgróti, born in Zalaegerszeg, graduated in painting from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Pécs in 2006 and obtained his doctoral degree (DLA) in 2013. Since the 2000s, his œuvre has been enriched by the non-figurative painting tradition of Pécs, from the surrealist forms of Ferenc Martyn to the colourism of Ilona Keserü, to the compositional logic of Ernő Tolvaly. Vivid colours, expressive brushwork and figurative motifs between these gestures defined Szentgróti's works from the 2000s. In the 2010s, as he simplified his motifs, the abstract gesture applied with a broad brush became increasingly dominant. Towards the end of the decade, Szentgróti's non-figurative imagery – with its varied surface treatment – became increasingly dense. In contrast, the alternation of broad brushstrokes and expressive surfaces was replaced by fields of acrylic paint mixed with pigments, transforming the canvases into an increasingly bright and translucent direction. The paintings, built up from thin coats of paint, evoke the aesthetics and layering of digital image editing software. Although the seemingly spontaneous gestures evoke the instinctive image-making of Informel Painting, Szentgróti follows a carefully pre-determined artistic program. In the words of art historian János Schneller: "The superimposition of the paint layers on the surface of the canvas, i.e. the consciously evoked structures, is perhaps the most important aspect of the concept." This artistic process, which questions the ontology of painting, cultivates and rewrites tradition simultaneously. Present on the local and national scene, Szentgróti is a teacher at the Secondary School of Art in Pécs. He lives and works in Pécs.

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Krisztián FREY
03.12.71

Krisztián FREY

03.12.71

Year(s)
1971
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
139,5x140 cm
Artist's introduction

Krisztián Frey, as one of the most original figures of the Hungarian non-figurative painting –reborn in the 1960s – formed his own specific way of expression on the domestic scene protected from international influence and suffering from intellectual drowning. As one of the Hungarian representatives of the European post-war abstraction, Frey created his own individual way of expression, combining the lyrical approach of the art informel and the gestural technique of handwriting, similarly to Cy Twombly or Georges Mathieu. Frey started to build his career in the mid-1950s. As a dentist’s son from the countryside, he had to face being stigmatised as a “class enemy”, due to which he was not allowed to attend the College of Fine Arts. As a consequence, neither the ideology of Socialist Realism, nor the conservative tools of scenery painting could prevent him to deploy his aesthetic inner world. He got into close contact with the Zugló Circle, a group of young progressive artists, where his contemporaries were discovering the ways of French abstraction. He staged his first individual exhibition in Hungary in 1967 (in a secluded culture house of Rákosliget), where he presented Rákosliget Pictures, his series consisting of repainted, “whitened” gestures, leaning towards monochrome painting. In the mid-1960s – independently from the Rákosliget series – his individual style became mature: unique abstract expressionism, inspired by Eastern calligraphy and letter-like script writing. He used to refer to his own artistic approach as “gesture painting with varying pace”, which can be described as grey surfaces consisting of multi-layer colours, wide, energetic, expressive brush strokes, handwritten-like, multilingual captures, stenciled letters, vandal wall scripts, zodiac signs, and applicated photographs. Its characteristics were not featured by the elegance of the Western calligraphic abstraction, but much more by the “toilet-door-aesthetics” of art brut and arte povera, utilizing cheap laths, rough scratches and raw gestures. They have been inseparably accompanied by raw erotic desire and invincible writing force. After participating in the Iparterv exhibitions, Frey emigrated to Switzerland in 1970 and lived in Zürich until the end of the Hungarian communism. From the late 1970s, for almost two decades, he was engaged with mathematics, music and informatics. His experiments of experimental computer-drawing ensured a spot for him among the pioneers of international computer art. After the Regime Change in Hungary, he visited his home country again, and parallelly he began to re-develop his earlier scriptural painting. His home crowd then started to admire his unrivalled oeuvre, which is pervaded by the permanent writing force, free expression and the calling of experimentation. Gábor Rieder

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Vera MOLNÁR
1 % Disorder

Vera MOLNÁR

1 % Disorder

Year(s)
1976
Technique
ink on paper
Size
5 pcs / 29,5x29,5 cm each
Artist's introduction

Living in France since 1947, Vera Molnar is one of the pioneers of Computer art. In 1959, she began to make combinatory images and model mathematical regularities using a method she called “machine imaginaire”. In 1968, she got the opportunity to work with a real computer. Molnar then began to use computer technologies as a generative tool to create paintings and graphic art, which broadened the frontiers of science and art. In her computer graphics, each image primarily refers to the unlimited possibilities of variation inherent to the underlying program. In creating these computer-generated drawings and graphics, the program creates specific geometric shapes and formations that can combine in a precalculated or unexpected way. The serial aspect of this method is also essential, as it allows the artist to transform the shapes systematically, as Molnar did with the line. Molnar is interested in the systematically produced random quality and the study of the infinite transformations of geometric shapes such as the square or the trapezoid. The computer’s algorithmic randomness plays a crucial role in her work. Order and disorder, structure and freedom provide important notions to understand her artistic practice further. Molnar said the following about her work, “I was not interested in anything but the simplest form, the square; what happens with it if there is order and what if there is none”. Zsófia Rátkai

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Balázs SZABÓ LOBOT
10 x 10

Balázs SZABÓ LOBOT

10 x 10

Year(s)
2022
Technique
acrylic, oil pastel on canvas
Size
90x90 cm
Artist's introduction

Balázs Szabó Lobot is one of the emblematic figures of the street art scene of Pest, which emerged after the turn of the millennium. His painting is defined by a naive character similar to children’s drawings, and is inspired by graffiti. Szabó, born in Nagykanizsa, graduated from the Hungarian University of Applied Arts in 2005 after a short detour in Ljubljana. His career as a member of the street art group named 1000% was defined by ephemeral, anonymous, street visuals. Hence the stage name "Lobot", which he used later on. Achieving great success in the genre, 1000% has regularly appeared in contemporary exhibition institutions that were open to street art, but Szabó has also exhibited his own autonomous artworks in Budapest. His art world was defined by a spontaneous fusion of graffiti and comics, by a style reminiscent of the Basquiat of the 80s, combined with an Eastern European DIY-spirit. His visual narratives are permeated by the experiences and objects of the underground music scene (mixing desks, synthesizers, posters, etc.), often embodied as objects. Around 2020, his painting moved closer to the abstract language, but retained its naive, children’s drawing-like character – often reminiscent of crayon drawing because of the oil pastel and oil stick. Brick grids, coiled strands, tubes and circles are snaked in front of a neutral space or stacked as building blocks. The playfully composed works, which tend towards non-figurativity, sometimes contain fragments of motifs from earlier pictorial narratives mixed with hidden symbols of fresh experiences. Szabó lives and works in Budapest. Besides his autonomous fine art and street art works, he is also known as an applied graphic artist and as a VJ. Gábor Rieder

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József BULLÁS
140127

József BULLÁS

140127

Year(s)
2014
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
200x140 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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József BULLÁS
140810

József BULLÁS

140810

Year(s)
2014
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
70x80 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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József BULLÁS
160930

József BULLÁS

160930

Year(s)
2016
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
120x95 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0304-Bullas-Jozsef-171210.jpg
József BULLÁS
171210

József BULLÁS

171210

Year(s)
2018
Technique
acrylic on canvas
Size
81x70,5 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0305-Bullas-Jozsef-171217.jpg
József BULLÁS
171217

József BULLÁS

171217

Year(s)
2017
Technique
oil and acrylic on canvas
Size
140x180 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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József BULLÁS
171230

József BULLÁS

171230

Year(s)
2017
Technique
oil and acrylic on canvas
Size
140x180 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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Péter UJHÁZI
18 Little Pictures

Péter UJHÁZI

18 Little Pictures

Year(s)
2004-2005
Technique
acrylic on fibreboard
Size
68x98 cm
Artist's introduction

The Munkácsy Prize-winning artist Péter Ujházi graduated in 1966 from the Hungarian College of Fine Arts' Painting Department. There seems to be virtually no trace of his masters, János Kmetty and Aurél Bernáth, in his work, which was the case for many of his contemporaries, who wanted to create "New Art". Ujházi developed his pictorial universe during the 1970s: his artistic position could be characterised with an anti-aesthetic attitude and a new aesthetic, which opposed high art. Ujházi has retained a fundamentally narrative approach to this day (reinforced by textual segments appearing in the works) and has developed this through various technical means: paintings, box pieces, collages, graphic work, assemblages, artist books and a series of wooden, ceramic and iron sculptures. One of his innovations is the unique "carousel perspective", which is established by the simultaneous utilisation of several perspectives. His other characteristic innovation is the figurative attitude reminiscent of children's drawings and graffiti. He has painted three major historical compositions in this style (The Siege of Fehérvár and the Deportation of Wathay, 1972; The Last Pagan Rebellion, 1972–73 and Jellasics's Run, 1973). From the four edges of a painting, a straight path led to scenes staged in a cosmic dimension and the conservation of everyday life's distinct locations and figures in the form of panoramas composed on the surface of the canvas. Expressive colours and a vibrant, gestural brushwork characterises his series depicting landscapes and foliage, which forms a significant chapter in the artist’s oeuvre since the late 1960s. Krisztina Kocsis – Katalin Keserü

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József BULLÁS
180412

József BULLÁS

180412

Year(s)
2018
Technique
acrylic on canvas
Size
80x70 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0301-Bullas-Jozsef-180916.jpg
József BULLÁS
180916

József BULLÁS

180916

Year(s)
2018
Technique
acrylic on canvas
Size
180x140 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0302-Bullas-Jozsef-180930.jpg
József BULLÁS
180930

József BULLÁS

180930

Year(s)
2018
Technique
acrylic on canvas
Size
180x140 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0300-Bullas-Jozsef-190801.jpg
József BULLÁS
190801

József BULLÁS

190801

Year(s)
2019
Technique
acrylic on canvas
Size
80x70 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0298-Bullas-Jozsef-200107.jpg
József BULLÁS
200107

József BULLÁS

200107

Year(s)
2020
Technique
acrylic on canvas
Size
50x50 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0295-Bullas-Jozsef-200215.jpg
József BULLÁS
200215

József BULLÁS

200215

Year(s)
2020
Technique
acrylic on canvas
Size
50x50 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0296-Bullas-Jozsef-200223.jpg
József BULLÁS
200223

József BULLÁS

200223

Year(s)
2020
Technique
acrylic on canvas
Size
50x50 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0297-Bullas-Jozsef-200310.jpg
József BULLÁS
200310

József BULLÁS

200310

Year(s)
2020
Technique
acrylic on canvas
Size
70x80 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0299-Bullas-Jozsef-200414.jpg
József BULLÁS
200414

József BULLÁS

200414

Year(s)
2020
Technique
acrylic on canvas
Size
50x50 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0108-Nadler-Istvan-2008-Fb.-A.jpg
István NÁDLER
2008 Fb. A.

István NÁDLER

2008 Fb. A.

Year(s)
2008
Technique
casein tempera on canvas
Size
120x80 cm
Artist's introduction

István Nádler was born in 1938 in Visegrád. Between 1958 and 1963 he studied at the College of Fine Arts in Budapest, where his master was Gyula Hincz. He became a member of the Zugló Circle, where he was exploring the newest international tendencies with his progressive contemporaries, in Sándor Molnár’s flat. In 1968 and 1969 he participated in the Iparterv exhibitions. At the end of the 1960s, Nádler’s attention shifted to hard-edge and minimal art. However, in contrast to Imre Bak, his structural, geometric painting was based only for a short time on the schematic systems of various archaic cultures and folk motifs. His works of a solid foundation of homogeneous colour-fields, dynamic visual structures and “impersonal” structures created in the 1970s can be characterised by strident colour-connections. His pictures presented systems where each element had its specific movement abilities, movement characteristics. In the 1980s, he unexpectedly returned to his gestural painting of the 1960s. Spontaneous visual improvisation, randomness and momentariness describe his paintings as their main characteristic features. For him, the artwork became a radiant energy centre, which does not document a pre-planned theoretical-logical process but rather conveys a state of being. Gábor Kaszás

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0109-Nadler-Istvan-2008-Fb.-B.jpg
István NÁDLER
2008 Fb. B.

István NÁDLER

2008 Fb. B.

Year(s)
2008
Technique
casein tempera on canvas
Size
120x80 cm
Artist's introduction

István Nádler was born in 1938 in Visegrád. Between 1958 and 1963 he studied at the College of Fine Arts in Budapest, where his master was Gyula Hincz. He became a member of the Zugló Circle, where he was exploring the newest international tendencies with his progressive contemporaries, in Sándor Molnár’s flat. In 1968 and 1969 he participated in the Iparterv exhibitions. At the end of the 1960s, Nádler’s attention shifted to hard-edge and minimal art. However, in contrast to Imre Bak, his structural, geometric painting was based only for a short time on the schematic systems of various archaic cultures and folk motifs. His works of a solid foundation of homogeneous colour-fields, dynamic visual structures and “impersonal” structures created in the 1970s can be characterised by strident colour-connections. His pictures presented systems where each element had its specific movement abilities, movement characteristics. In the 1980s, he unexpectedly returned to his gestural painting of the 1960s. Spontaneous visual improvisation, randomness and momentariness describe his paintings as their main characteristic features. For him, the artwork became a radiant energy centre, which does not document a pre-planned theoretical-logical process but rather conveys a state of being. Gábor Kaszás

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0777-Ujhazi-Peter-2011-juli-14___777-es-778-foto-cserelve___20211213.jpg
Péter UJHÁZI
14th July 2011.

Péter UJHÁZI

14th July 2011.

Year(s)
2011
Technique
acrylic on loose canvas
Size
120x106 cm
Artist's introduction

The Munkácsy Prize-winning artist Péter Ujházi graduated in 1966 from the Hungarian College of Fine Arts' Painting Department. There seems to be virtually no trace of his masters, János Kmetty and Aurél Bernáth, in his work, which was the case for many of his contemporaries, who wanted to create "New Art". Ujházi developed his pictorial universe during the 1970s: his artistic position could be characterised with an anti-aesthetic attitude and a new aesthetic, which opposed high art. Ujházi has retained a fundamentally narrative approach to this day (reinforced by textual segments appearing in the works) and has developed this through various technical means: paintings, box pieces, collages, graphic work, assemblages, artist books and a series of wooden, ceramic and iron sculptures. One of his innovations is the unique "carousel perspective", which is established by the simultaneous utilisation of several perspectives. His other characteristic innovation is the figurative attitude reminiscent of children's drawings and graffiti. He has painted three major historical compositions in this style (The Siege of Fehérvár and the Deportation of Wathay, 1972; The Last Pagan Rebellion, 1972–73 and Jellasics's Run, 1973). From the four edges of a painting, a straight path led to scenes staged in a cosmic dimension and the conservation of everyday life's distinct locations and figures in the form of panoramas composed on the surface of the canvas. Expressive colours and a vibrant, gestural brushwork characterises his series depicting landscapes and foliage, which forms a significant chapter in the artist’s oeuvre since the late 1960s. Krisztina Kocsis – Katalin Keserü

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0843-Csaji-Attila-2001-VII.jpg
Attila CSÁJI
2011/VII.

Attila CSÁJI

2011/VII.

Year(s)
2011
Technique
mixed media on fibreboard
Size
100,5x100,5 cm
Artist's introduction

Attila Csáji was a prominent figure in the Neo-Avant-Garde art scene of the mid-1960s, one of the most important organisers of his generation, and a pioneer of Hungarian gesture painting and light art. Attila Csáji's inner essence, the symbolism of light, which permeates his "self-principled", multifaceted art, was summed up by Lóránd Hegyi: "For Attila Csáji, light is the phenomena that illuminates the "hidden face of nature". Light reveals the invisible, hidden, essential characteristics, uniting the intellectual and the organic world. In other words, light becomes a mystical force in his artistic world, capable of fusing the infinite cosmos and the infinite realm of the human spirit. " Born in Szepsi in Upper Hungary, Csáji, who moved to Budapest with his family as a child, graduated from the Teacher Training College in Eger in 1964. His works, referred to as "szürenon", created at the beginning of his painting career, combined surrealism and non-figurativity. In his mature oil paintings, calligraphic 'writing marks' and Informel figures, which bulged out plastically, were lined up on the surface as fictitious messages of archaic cultures. According to the artist's interpretation, "The Message Grids are plastic gestural structures, a pantomime or dance of the hand, transformed by light, messages that carry the spell of ancient cultures in the present, at the border between chaos and order." For a while, the ever-growing series of greyish-brown, metallically shimmering 'sign grids' was enriched with applied objects wrapped in black before returning to the sculptural paint mass. In the late sixties and early seventies, Csáji participated as a conceptual artist and active organiser in important events of the Neo-Avant-Garde scene (Szürenon Group, the Kápolna exhibitions in Balatonboglár, etc.). From the mid-seventies onwards, he began to work with various light technologies in the field of fine art, moving beyond the surrealistic relief effect, creating holographic works and laser installations. Driven by the thirst for scientific knowledge, in the 1980s, he studied laser technology at the Central Institute of Physics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, then reflection holography at the BME, and then transmission holography at the legendary MIT in the USA. Since the 1980s, his photographic work has been featured in important international exhibitions. His works are in several museums abroad, from Seoul to Cambridge. He has received numerous awards, including the Munkácsy Prize, and is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and has patented a range of ideas. He lives and works in Budapest. Gábor Rieder

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1323 Bullás József - 211010
József BULLÁS
211010

József BULLÁS

211010

Year(s)
2021
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
180x140 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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1324 Bullás József - 211014
József BULLÁS
211014

József BULLÁS

211014

Year(s)
2021
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
180x140 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0652-Fajo-Janos-25-os-Modul.jpg
János FAJÓ
Module no. 25

János FAJÓ

Module no. 25

Year(s)
1990
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
224x252,5 cm
Artist's introduction

János Fajó is one of the leading figures of Hungarian Constructive Geometric art. During his decades-long career, he researched empirical and geometric phenomena with a unique rigour. In his work, he investigated repetitive structures and their complex variations. His experiments in form spanned different media, including graphic work, screenprints, paintings, wall objects and sculptures. The easily recognisable, orderly visual universe of his works points to the inexhaustible nature of colour and form, relying on the purest pictorial attitude. He created symmetry, asymmetry, infinite variation of movement, rhythm, and dynamic relations by organising simple planar shapes. János Fajó graduated from the Hungarian College of Applied Arts in 1961. In 1971, he founded the renowned Neo-Avant-Garde group, the Pest Workshop, which printed multipliable graphics to democratise art. In addition to his publishing activities, he ran a free school for decades and organised exhibitions as the director of the Józsefváros Gallery. He received the Munkácsy Prize in 1985 and the Kossuth Prize in 2008. He has been teaching at the Hungarian University of Applied Arts since 1989. In 2016, he was elected as a member of the Széchenyi Academy of Letters and Arts. His works can be seen in significant local and international museum collections such as the Ludwig Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Albertina in Vienna, the Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum in Graz, Haus Konstruktiv (The Foundation for Constructive and Concrete Art) in Zurich and the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, as well as important national and international private collections. Zita Sárvári

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0768-Rakoczy-Gizella-256N.jpg
Gizella RÁKÓCZY
256N

Gizella RÁKÓCZY

256N

Year(s)
2009
Technique
watercolour on paper
Size
134,5x134,5 cm
Artist's introduction

Between 1966 and 1971, Gizella Rákóczy studied at the Painting Department at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts in the class of Géza Fónyi. During her travel to Paris after graduating from college, the intact gothic glass windows of Saint-Denis Cathedral impacted her life decisively. The awe-inspiring vision of light rays, filtering through the cathedral’s stained glass windows composed by clear colours – and being projected on the floor in a kaleidoscopic way – as the manifestation of transcendence and sacrality, became a fundamental reference point in her artistic career. Although her oeuvre was always heading towards this direction, it was not only until decades later that she discovered a painting and aquarelle technique that transformed the interlacing brilliance of colours in the most adequate way. From 1976, inspired by an ancient Scottish tombstone drawing, she began to deal with four-armed spirals and their inherent numerical laws, devising a system that could be transposed into the language of combinatory painting. Her research concerning the spatial expansion of the motif and colour theory – also touching on the architectural applicability of the issue – gradually came into the focus of her fine art practice and became reflected in the increasingly complex shapes of her tempera paintings conceived from 1978 onwards. The regularities in the connection points of the spiral arms and those deduced from the resolution of the spiral nucleus began to unfold on the surface of her images, complementing and explaining each other. The initial visual systems established by the artist operated using four distinct shades of grey. Rákóczy, however, began replacing these with yellow, green and blue already at a relatively early stage. After 1998, the tempera images dealing with the numerical laws of four-armed spirals were succeeded by watercolour paintings. After brief research concerning this technique, the artist began to layer the transparent paint tones according to the mathematical formula of the Fibonacci sequence. Due to the systematic nature of her paintings and her connections to the geometric and constructivist traditions, she joined several professional organisations – including the International Symmetry Association and the Hungarian Society of Water-Colour Painters. Her analytical, structure-oriented and serial attitude, her attention to detail associate her in many ways with the painting practice of Richard Paul Lohse and Agnes Martin. Mónika Zsikla

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0765-Rakoczy-Gizella-4-szin-4-tonus___kepcsere-es-ezt-90balra___20211211-masolat.jpg
Gizella RÁKÓCZY
4 Tones of 4 Colours

Gizella RÁKÓCZY

4 Tones of 4 Colours

Year(s)
2002
Technique
watercolour on paper
Size
69x69 cm
Artist's introduction

Between 1966 and 1971, Gizella Rákóczy studied at the Painting Department at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts in the class of Géza Fónyi. During her travel to Paris after graduating from college, the intact gothic glass windows of Saint-Denis Cathedral impacted her life decisively. The awe-inspiring vision of light rays, filtering through the cathedral’s stained glass windows composed by clear colours – and being projected on the floor in a kaleidoscopic way – as the manifestation of transcendence and sacrality, became a fundamental reference point in her artistic career. Although her oeuvre was always heading towards this direction, it was not only until decades later that she discovered a painting and aquarelle technique that transformed the interlacing brilliance of colours in the most adequate way. From 1976, inspired by an ancient Scottish tombstone drawing, she began to deal with four-armed spirals and their inherent numerical laws, devising a system that could be transposed into the language of combinatory painting. Her research concerning the spatial expansion of the motif and colour theory – also touching on the architectural applicability of the issue – gradually came into the focus of her fine art practice and became reflected in the increasingly complex shapes of her tempera paintings conceived from 1978 onwards. The regularities in the connection points of the spiral arms and those deduced from the resolution of the spiral nucleus began to unfold on the surface of her images, complementing and explaining each other. The initial visual systems established by the artist operated using four distinct shades of grey. Rákóczy, however, began replacing these with yellow, green and blue already at a relatively early stage. After 1998, the tempera images dealing with the numerical laws of four-armed spirals were succeeded by watercolour paintings. After brief research concerning this technique, the artist began to layer the transparent paint tones according to the mathematical formula of the Fibonacci sequence. Due to the systematic nature of her paintings and her connections to the geometric and constructivist traditions, she joined several professional organisations – including the International Symmetry Association and the Hungarian Society of Water-Colour Painters. Her analytical, structure-oriented and serial attitude, her attention to detail associate her in many ways with the painting practice of Richard Paul Lohse and Agnes Martin. Mónika Zsikla

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0766-Rakoczy-Gizella-4-szin-4-tonus___kepcsere___20211211.jpg
Gizella RÁKÓCZY
4 Tones of 4 Colours

Gizella RÁKÓCZY

4 Tones of 4 Colours

Year(s)
2002
Technique
watercolour on paper
Size
68x68 cm
Artist's introduction

Between 1966 and 1971, Gizella Rákóczy studied at the Painting Department at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts in the class of Géza Fónyi. During her travel to Paris after graduating from college, the intact gothic glass windows of Saint-Denis Cathedral impacted her life decisively. The awe-inspiring vision of light rays, filtering through the cathedral’s stained glass windows composed by clear colours – and being projected on the floor in a kaleidoscopic way – as the manifestation of transcendence and sacrality, became a fundamental reference point in her artistic career. Although her oeuvre was always heading towards this direction, it was not only until decades later that she discovered a painting and aquarelle technique that transformed the interlacing brilliance of colours in the most adequate way. From 1976, inspired by an ancient Scottish tombstone drawing, she began to deal with four-armed spirals and their inherent numerical laws, devising a system that could be transposed into the language of combinatory painting. Her research concerning the spatial expansion of the motif and colour theory – also touching on the architectural applicability of the issue – gradually came into the focus of her fine art practice and became reflected in the increasingly complex shapes of her tempera paintings conceived from 1978 onwards. The regularities in the connection points of the spiral arms and those deduced from the resolution of the spiral nucleus began to unfold on the surface of her images, complementing and explaining each other. The initial visual systems established by the artist operated using four distinct shades of grey. Rákóczy, however, began replacing these with yellow, green and blue already at a relatively early stage. After 1998, the tempera images dealing with the numerical laws of four-armed spirals were succeeded by watercolour paintings. After brief research concerning this technique, the artist began to layer the transparent paint tones according to the mathematical formula of the Fibonacci sequence. Due to the systematic nature of her paintings and her connections to the geometric and constructivist traditions, she joined several professional organisations – including the International Symmetry Association and the Hungarian Society of Water-Colour Painters. Her analytical, structure-oriented and serial attitude, her attention to detail associate her in many ways with the painting practice of Richard Paul Lohse and Agnes Martin. Mónika Zsikla

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0767-Rakoczy-Gizella-4-szin-4-tonus___kepcsere___20211211.jpg
Gizella RÁKÓCZY
4 Tones of 4 Colours

Gizella RÁKÓCZY

4 Tones of 4 Colours

Year(s)
2002
Technique
watercolour on paper
Size
68x68 cm
Artist's introduction

Between 1966 and 1971, Gizella Rákóczy studied at the Painting Department at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts in the class of Géza Fónyi. During her travel to Paris after graduating from college, the intact gothic glass windows of Saint-Denis Cathedral impacted her life decisively. The awe-inspiring vision of light rays, filtering through the cathedral’s stained glass windows composed by clear colours – and being projected on the floor in a kaleidoscopic way – as the manifestation of transcendence and sacrality, became a fundamental reference point in her artistic career. Although her oeuvre was always heading towards this direction, it was not only until decades later that she discovered a painting and aquarelle technique that transformed the interlacing brilliance of colours in the most adequate way. From 1976, inspired by an ancient Scottish tombstone drawing, she began to deal with four-armed spirals and their inherent numerical laws, devising a system that could be transposed into the language of combinatory painting. Her research concerning the spatial expansion of the motif and colour theory – also touching on the architectural applicability of the issue – gradually came into the focus of her fine art practice and became reflected in the increasingly complex shapes of her tempera paintings conceived from 1978 onwards. The regularities in the connection points of the spiral arms and those deduced from the resolution of the spiral nucleus began to unfold on the surface of her images, complementing and explaining each other. The initial visual systems established by the artist operated using four distinct shades of grey. Rákóczy, however, began replacing these with yellow, green and blue already at a relatively early stage. After 1998, the tempera images dealing with the numerical laws of four-armed spirals were succeeded by watercolour paintings. After brief research concerning this technique, the artist began to layer the transparent paint tones according to the mathematical formula of the Fibonacci sequence. Due to the systematic nature of her paintings and her connections to the geometric and constructivist traditions, she joined several professional organisations – including the International Symmetry Association and the Hungarian Society of Water-Colour Painters. Her analytical, structure-oriented and serial attitude, her attention to detail associate her in many ways with the painting practice of Richard Paul Lohse and Agnes Martin. Mónika Zsikla

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0763-Rakoczy-Gizella-4-szin-4-tonus.jpg
Gizella RÁKÓCZY
4 Tones of 4 Colours

Gizella RÁKÓCZY

4 Tones of 4 Colours

Year(s)
2002
Technique
watercolour on paper
Size
68,8x69 cm
Artist's introduction

Between 1966 and 1971, Gizella Rákóczy studied at the Painting Department at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts in the class of Géza Fónyi. During her travel to Paris after graduating from college, the intact gothic glass windows of Saint-Denis Cathedral impacted her life decisively. The awe-inspiring vision of light rays, filtering through the cathedral’s stained glass windows composed by clear colours – and being projected on the floor in a kaleidoscopic way – as the manifestation of transcendence and sacrality, became a fundamental reference point in her artistic career. Although her oeuvre was always heading towards this direction, it was not only until decades later that she discovered a painting and aquarelle technique that transformed the interlacing brilliance of colours in the most adequate way. From 1976, inspired by an ancient Scottish tombstone drawing, she began to deal with four-armed spirals and their inherent numerical laws, devising a system that could be transposed into the language of combinatory painting. Her research concerning the spatial expansion of the motif and colour theory – also touching on the architectural applicability of the issue – gradually came into the focus of her fine art practice and became reflected in the increasingly complex shapes of her tempera paintings conceived from 1978 onwards. The regularities in the connection points of the spiral arms and those deduced from the resolution of the spiral nucleus began to unfold on the surface of her images, complementing and explaining each other. The initial visual systems established by the artist operated using four distinct shades of grey. Rákóczy, however, began replacing these with yellow, green and blue already at a relatively early stage. After 1998, the tempera images dealing with the numerical laws of four-armed spirals were succeeded by watercolour paintings. After brief research concerning this technique, the artist began to layer the transparent paint tones according to the mathematical formula of the Fibonacci sequence. Due to the systematic nature of her paintings and her connections to the geometric and constructivist traditions, she joined several professional organisations – including the International Symmetry Association and the Hungarian Society of Water-Colour Painters. Her analytical, structure-oriented and serial attitude, her attention to detail associate her in many ways with the painting practice of Richard Paul Lohse and Agnes Martin. Mónika Zsikla

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0764-Rakoczy-Gizella-4-szin-4-tonus___kepcsere___20211211.jpg
Gizella RÁKÓCZY
4 Tones of 4 Colours

Gizella RÁKÓCZY

4 Tones of 4 Colours

Year(s)
2002
Technique
watercolour on paper
Size
69x69 cm
Artist's introduction

Between 1966 and 1971, Gizella Rákóczy studied at the Painting Department at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts in the class of Géza Fónyi. During her travel to Paris after graduating from college, the intact gothic glass windows of Saint-Denis Cathedral impacted her life decisively. The awe-inspiring vision of light rays, filtering through the cathedral’s stained glass windows composed by clear colours – and being projected on the floor in a kaleidoscopic way – as the manifestation of transcendence and sacrality, became a fundamental reference point in her artistic career. Although her oeuvre was always heading towards this direction, it was not only until decades later that she discovered a painting and aquarelle technique that transformed the interlacing brilliance of colours in the most adequate way. From 1976, inspired by an ancient Scottish tombstone drawing, she began to deal with four-armed spirals and their inherent numerical laws, devising a system that could be transposed into the language of combinatory painting. Her research concerning the spatial expansion of the motif and colour theory – also touching on the architectural applicability of the issue – gradually came into the focus of her fine art practice and became reflected in the increasingly complex shapes of her tempera paintings conceived from 1978 onwards. The regularities in the connection points of the spiral arms and those deduced from the resolution of the spiral nucleus began to unfold on the surface of her images, complementing and explaining each other. The initial visual systems established by the artist operated using four distinct shades of grey. Rákóczy, however, began replacing these with yellow, green and blue already at a relatively early stage. After 1998, the tempera images dealing with the numerical laws of four-armed spirals were succeeded by watercolour paintings. After brief research concerning this technique, the artist began to layer the transparent paint tones according to the mathematical formula of the Fibonacci sequence. Due to the systematic nature of her paintings and her connections to the geometric and constructivist traditions, she joined several professional organisations – including the International Symmetry Association and the Hungarian Society of Water-Colour Painters. Her analytical, structure-oriented and serial attitude, her attention to detail associate her in many ways with the painting practice of Richard Paul Lohse and Agnes Martin. Mónika Zsikla

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0760-Rakoczy-Gizella-4-szin-4-tonusa.jpg
Gizella RÁKÓCZY
4 Tones of 4 Colours

Gizella RÁKÓCZY

4 Tones of 4 Colours

Year(s)
1998
Technique
watercolour on paper
Size
62,5x62,5 cm
Artist's introduction

Between 1966 and 1971, Gizella Rákóczy studied at the Painting Department at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts in the class of Géza Fónyi. During her travel to Paris after graduating from college, the intact gothic glass windows of Saint-Denis Cathedral impacted her life decisively. The awe-inspiring vision of light rays, filtering through the cathedral’s stained glass windows composed by clear colours – and being projected on the floor in a kaleidoscopic way – as the manifestation of transcendence and sacrality, became a fundamental reference point in her artistic career. Although her oeuvre was always heading towards this direction, it was not only until decades later that she discovered a painting and aquarelle technique that transformed the interlacing brilliance of colours in the most adequate way. From 1976, inspired by an ancient Scottish tombstone drawing, she began to deal with four-armed spirals and their inherent numerical laws, devising a system that could be transposed into the language of combinatory painting. Her research concerning the spatial expansion of the motif and colour theory – also touching on the architectural applicability of the issue – gradually came into the focus of her fine art practice and became reflected in the increasingly complex shapes of her tempera paintings conceived from 1978 onwards. The regularities in the connection points of the spiral arms and those deduced from the resolution of the spiral nucleus began to unfold on the surface of her images, complementing and explaining each other. The initial visual systems established by the artist operated using four distinct shades of grey. Rákóczy, however, began replacing these with yellow, green and blue already at a relatively early stage. After 1998, the tempera images dealing with the numerical laws of four-armed spirals were succeeded by watercolour paintings. After brief research concerning this technique, the artist began to layer the transparent paint tones according to the mathematical formula of the Fibonacci sequence. Due to the systematic nature of her paintings and her connections to the geometric and constructivist traditions, she joined several professional organisations – including the International Symmetry Association and the Hungarian Society of Water-Colour Painters. Her analytical, structure-oriented and serial attitude, her attention to detail associate her in many ways with the painting practice of Richard Paul Lohse and Agnes Martin. Mónika Zsikla

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0769-Rakoczy-Gizella-4-szin-labirintus.jpg
Gizella RÁKÓCZY
4 Colour Labyrinth

Gizella RÁKÓCZY

4 Colour Labyrinth

Year(s)
2005
Technique
watercolour on paper
Size
130x130 cm
Artist's introduction

Between 1966 and 1971, Gizella Rákóczy studied at the Painting Department at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts in the class of Géza Fónyi. During her travel to Paris after graduating from college, the intact gothic glass windows of Saint-Denis Cathedral impacted her life decisively. The awe-inspiring vision of light rays, filtering through the cathedral’s stained glass windows composed by clear colours – and being projected on the floor in a kaleidoscopic way – as the manifestation of transcendence and sacrality, became a fundamental reference point in her artistic career. Although her oeuvre was always heading towards this direction, it was not only until decades later that she discovered a painting and aquarelle technique that transformed the interlacing brilliance of colours in the most adequate way. From 1976, inspired by an ancient Scottish tombstone drawing, she began to deal with four-armed spirals and their inherent numerical laws, devising a system that could be transposed into the language of combinatory painting. Her research concerning the spatial expansion of the motif and colour theory – also touching on the architectural applicability of the issue – gradually came into the focus of her fine art practice and became reflected in the increasingly complex shapes of her tempera paintings conceived from 1978 onwards. The regularities in the connection points of the spiral arms and those deduced from the resolution of the spiral nucleus began to unfold on the surface of her images, complementing and explaining each other. The initial visual systems established by the artist operated using four distinct shades of grey. Rákóczy, however, began replacing these with yellow, green and blue already at a relatively early stage. After 1998, the tempera images dealing with the numerical laws of four-armed spirals were succeeded by watercolour paintings. After brief research concerning this technique, the artist began to layer the transparent paint tones according to the mathematical formula of the Fibonacci sequence. Due to the systematic nature of her paintings and her connections to the geometric and constructivist traditions, she joined several professional organisations – including the International Symmetry Association and the Hungarian Society of Water-Colour Painters. Her analytical, structure-oriented and serial attitude, her attention to detail associate her in many ways with the painting practice of Richard Paul Lohse and Agnes Martin. Mónika Zsikla

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0313-Bullas-Jozsef-40315-1.jpg
József BULLÁS
40315/1

József BULLÁS

40315/1

Year(s)
2004
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
140x200 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0311-Bullas-Jozsef-50906.jpg
József BULLÁS
50906

József BULLÁS

50906

Year(s)
2005
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
140x200 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0312-Bullas-Jozsef-50908.jpg
József BULLÁS
50908

József BULLÁS

50908

Year(s)
2005
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
150x200 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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1407 Felsmann Istv†n - 51-es villamos
István FELSMANN
Tram 51

István FELSMANN

Tram 51

Year(s)
2013
Technique
LEGO, acrylic spray
Size
25,5x48 cm
Artist's introduction

István Felsmann graduated in 2013 from the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Faculty of Graphic Design, where he has been a DLA student since 2022. He has been awarded the Gyula Derkovits Prize three times – in 2014, 2015 and in 2019 – and was nominated for the Esterházy Art Prize in 2019. Since 2009, his interdisciplinary art practice has included his trademark Lego building block works, a hybrid synthesis of relief and tableau painting. With a network approach, he deconstructs and reconstructs the abstract and realistic layers of information of reality in his image objects (Tram 51, 2013), but most of his works dissolve art historical traditions with a playfully balancing use of combinatorics. He also breaks down constructivism (Big Red Icon, 2020, White Constructivist, 2014) into its elements within the prequels, to then transform it into deconstructivism in a liberated act of childlike discovery and melting-pot-like creation. In this way, he simultaneously shows the shapes of geometric abstraction and the revolutionary achievements of the computing technology that defined Generation Y. His image objects are thus bitmaps represented by analogue raster and digital pixel graphics, each pixel of which is uniquely defined so that the image file can carry its corrupted data’s fragments and as much information or as possible. In fact, his Tennis and Court series, created in 2020, shows the new direction in which István Felsmann has turned towards the theory of supersymmetry with extended dimensions, i.e. experimenting with the possibility of representing extra dimensions and transforming symmetry. In February 2023, at the Deák Erika Gallery, in collaboration with Andrea Tivadar, at their joint exhibition titled PLAYFUL, a further reflection of these two visual and theoretical antecedents was presented. Annamária Szabó

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0458-Frey-Krisztian-7.160-200.jpg
Krisztián FREY
7.160/200

Krisztián FREY

7.160/200

Year(s)
1972
Technique
mixed media on paper
Size
59x41,5 cm
Artist's introduction

Krisztián Frey, as one of the most original figures of the Hungarian non-figurative painting –reborn in the 1960s – formed his own specific way of expression on the domestic scene protected from international influence and suffering from intellectual drowning. As one of the Hungarian representatives of the European post-war abstraction, Frey created his own individual way of expression, combining the lyrical approach of the art informel and the gestural technique of handwriting, similarly to Cy Twombly or Georges Mathieu. Frey started to build his career in the mid-1950s. As a dentist’s son from the countryside, he had to face being stigmatised as a “class enemy”, due to which he was not allowed to attend the College of Fine Arts. As a consequence, neither the ideology of Socialist Realism, nor the conservative tools of scenery painting could prevent him to deploy his aesthetic inner world. He got into close contact with the Zugló Circle, a group of young progressive artists, where his contemporaries were discovering the ways of French abstraction. He staged his first individual exhibition in Hungary in 1967 (in a secluded culture house of Rákosliget), where he presented Rákosliget Pictures, his series consisting of repainted, “whitened” gestures, leaning towards monochrome painting. In the mid-1960s – independently from the Rákosliget series – his individual style became mature: unique abstract expressionism, inspired by Eastern calligraphy and letter-like script writing. He used to refer to his own artistic approach as “gesture painting with varying pace”, which can be described as grey surfaces consisting of multi-layer colours, wide, energetic, expressive brush strokes, handwritten-like, multilingual captures, stenciled letters, vandal wall scripts, zodiac signs, and applicated photographs. Its characteristics were not featured by the elegance of the Western calligraphic abstraction, but much more by the “toilet-door-aesthetics” of art brut and arte povera, utilizing cheap laths, rough scratches and raw gestures. They have been inseparably accompanied by raw erotic desire and invincible writing force. After participating in the Iparterv exhibitions, Frey emigrated to Switzerland in 1970 and lived in Zürich until the end of the Hungarian communism. From the late 1970s, for almost two decades, he was engaged with mathematics, music and informatics. His experiments of experimental computer-drawing ensured a spot for him among the pioneers of international computer art. After the Regime Change in Hungary, he visited his home country again, and parallelly he began to re-develop his earlier scriptural painting. His home crowd then started to admire his unrivalled oeuvre, which is pervaded by the permanent writing force, free expression and the calling of experimentation. Gábor Rieder

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0828-Aatoth-Franyo-9.jpg
Franyo AATOTH
9

Franyo AATOTH

9

Year(s)
2017
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
170x140 cm
Artist's introduction

Aatoth Franyo is an artist who follows the tradition of New Painting's Neo-Dadaist vein of the 1980s. His œuvre, which unfolds like that of a bohemian cosmopolitan, has been informed by the culture of various countries. Márton Gerlóczy defines him as a "world-famous painter who refrains from world fame". In his own words, he is an "exhibitionist" because he always wants to "show an aspect" of himself. Born in Nyíregyháza, István Ferenc Tóth, creating under the name "aatoth franyo", was a chemical technician, but in the seventies, he chose a career in fine arts. Victor Vasarely brought him to Paris in 1978, where he graduated from the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. As a world-travelling artist, he has lived and worked in several Western countries and exotic locations in North Africa, Mongolia and Thailand. His art was inspired by the New Painting of the 1980s in France, the naïve figurativity of Figuration Libre, the spontaneous aesthetics of graffiti and the unbridled spirit of Neo-Dadaism. The sombre colours of his early paintings were replaced in the early nineties, under the influence of his stay in Mongolia, by the emblematic burgundy red, which embodies a wide range of traditional meanings such as fire, blood, love, hell, flame, revolution and hot spices. In the red spaces, elicited through the use of expressive brushwork, grotesque figures and motifs in the style of children's drawings emerge. The often absurd, humorous or philosophical content is complemented by Hungarian, French and English texts. Around 2010, Aatoth Franyo's artistic practice gradually took a new direction: the artist set up a studio deep in the jungles of Thailand, where he experienced the destructive impact of civilisation on the endless rainforest. From then on, the lush vegetation in his work appears as arabesque gestures and calligraphic marks, transforming the paint applied directly onto the canvas from the tube into an abstract system. In addition to his dominant painterly practice, his bohemian œuvre includes a guidebook for travellers, animation films, objects and installations. His work can be found in many international public collections, from the Gallery of Modern Art in Ulaanbaatar to the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. He lives and works in Paris and Thailand. Gábor Rieder

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0738-Karolyi-Zsigmond-90-fokos-fordulat..jpg
Zsigmond KÁROLYI
90 Degree Turn

Zsigmond KÁROLYI

90 Degree Turn

Year(s)
2006
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
76x101 cm
Artist's introduction

Zsigmond Károlyi, after his figurative experiments of the 2000s – which manifested in archaizing, quasi-symbolic genre images, still lifes arranged from children's toys, sour pastiche pieces – once again started painting geometric images, returning to his concept from around 1977-78, which was based on the relationship of elementary forms and motion relations. His works recorded the triangle's and the rectangle's phases of rotation; his series of paintings is thus a synthesis of decades of artistic practice. The platform and the arguments of this pictorial summary are based on a kind of orthodoxy, on the fundamentalism of painting theory. At the same time, this becomes a stylistic framework, a characteristic form in itself. The visual structures created by rotation, the virtual shifting of planes, the division of the image surface and the transformation of this rhythm by adding new sections - sometimes planar fractals – provide a complex set of terms. Károlyi uses pure primary colours of additive and subtractive colour mixing in these procedures, complemented with the broken "mutants" of these colours. The almost exclusively square-format, balanced quality of the boards is juxtaposed with peculiar, immanent seriality, a gesture that generates form, folding out and across, folding in and down, mirroring. These processes vary and permute the planes intended and assumed to be regular, which are ultimately strikingly personal. The square is halved, the triangle is reflected. A circle or a sector appears only rarely. The forms are aligned in the austere tension of cold and warm, converging and receding hues and the delicate balance of complementary colours, while the images reveal something seemingly stricter, at the same time self-ironic, from a distance, but perhaps not involuntarily, indeed: a reference to Bauhaus, a quasi-pedagogical "dogmatism". István Hajdu

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0310-Bullas-Jozsef-91019.jpg
József BULLÁS
91019

József BULLÁS

91019

Year(s)
2009
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
120x95 cm
Artist's introduction

The painterly practice of József Bullás started in the early 1980s with representative, figurative images in the spirit of the Transavantgard and New Sensibility. Later, during his travels to the East, Bullás discovered the potential of ornamentation and gradually moved away from depictive narrative painting. "I want to create abstract paintings that combine »traditional« Western Constructivism with Eastern ornamentation, avoiding the associations of nature, literature and symbolism. Instead of the postmodern remixing of themes, my goal is to interpret phenomena with »my eyes«, to see again." – the artist claimed. The paintings of Bullás oscillate between illusionistic and expressive qualities. His later pieces, regarding this dynamic alternation, reveal a more controlled approach, but at the same time a search for new aesthetic paths as well. Contemporary art's tendency of turning towards design, furthermore the Minimalist and Modernist values of current design direct the medium of painting from a content-centred approach towards a clean, transparent, form-oriented conception. The colour scheme of Bullás's paintings has also expanded in recent years. The organic colours characteristic of the artist are increasingly complemented with new, unusual shades. Synthetic colours appear on his canvases, which denotes the emergence of a new image type and a shift in aesthetic sensitivity. In Bullás' recent works, we witness this aspect becoming self-conscious, as the artist reinterprets his previous ideas and techniques in light of the millennial turn. Zsolt Petrányi

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0481-Frey-Krisztian-95-IL.jpg
Krisztián FREY
95 IL

Krisztián FREY

95 IL

Year(s)
1995
Technique
oil on canvas
Size
125x125 cm
Artist's introduction

Krisztián Frey, as one of the most original figures of the Hungarian non-figurative painting –reborn in the 1960s – formed his own specific way of expression on the domestic scene protected from international influence and suffering from intellectual drowning. As one of the Hungarian representatives of the European post-war abstraction, Frey created his own individual way of expression, combining the lyrical approach of the art informel and the gestural technique of handwriting, similarly to Cy Twombly or Georges Mathieu. Frey started to build his career in the mid-1950s. As a dentist’s son from the countryside, he had to face being stigmatised as a “class enemy”, due to which he was not allowed to attend the College of Fine Arts. As a consequence, neither the ideology of Socialist Realism, nor the conservative tools of scenery painting could prevent him to deploy his aesthetic inner world. He got into close contact with the Zugló Circle, a group of young progressive artists, where his contemporaries were discovering the ways of French abstraction. He staged his first individual exhibition in Hungary in 1967 (in a secluded culture house of Rákosliget), where he presented Rákosliget Pictures, his series consisting of repainted, “whitened” gestures, leaning towards monochrome painting. In the mid-1960s – independently from the Rákosliget series – his individual style became mature: unique abstract expressionism, inspired by Eastern calligraphy and letter-like script writing. He used to refer to his own artistic approach as “gesture painting with varying pace”, which can be described as grey surfaces consisting of multi-layer colours, wide, energetic, expressive brush strokes, handwritten-like, multilingual captures, stenciled letters, vandal wall scripts, zodiac signs, and applicated photographs. Its characteristics were not featured by the elegance of the Western calligraphic abstraction, but much more by the “toilet-door-aesthetics” of art brut and arte povera, utilizing cheap laths, rough scratches and raw gestures. They have been inseparably accompanied by raw erotic desire and invincible writing force. After participating in the Iparterv exhibitions, Frey emigrated to Switzerland in 1970 and lived in Zürich until the end of the Hungarian communism. From the late 1970s, for almost two decades, he was engaged with mathematics, music and informatics. His experiments of experimental computer-drawing ensured a spot for him among the pioneers of international computer art. After the Regime Change in Hungary, he visited his home country again, and parallelly he began to re-develop his earlier scriptural painting. His home crowd then started to admire his unrivalled oeuvre, which is pervaded by the permanent writing force, free expression and the calling of experimentation. Gábor Rieder

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0753-Pinter-Dia-A-bolond-a-kek.jpg
Dia PINTÉR
The Fool Is The Blue

Dia PINTÉR

The Fool Is The Blue

Year(s)
2017-2018
Technique
serpentine streamer and felt-tip pen on canvas
Size
200x150 cm
Artist's introduction

Inerasable memory is a crucial notion in the case of Dia Pintér's work. Shards of memory, image fragments and segments of space appear in her images. These cannot be depicted or decoded directly. Painting is, of course, always a zone where depiction takes place – here, however, it is not a mathematical process but rather a multidimensional one. The evocative nature of the utilised motifs, the emotive power of colours, the unity of forms, the elaboration of complex spatial constellations, and the connections stemming from associative patterns between words and work processes play a central role in her work. The primary formal unit of representation in Pintér's case is the stripe or the paper band. These stripes fall in a rain-like fashion, delineating shapes or gathering in puddles mirroring various motifs. Pintér searches for transition zones leading to past-tense perceptions. She is not looking for one given method or a magic spell through which this transition might occur: she seems to be seeking the direction with closed eyes. As such, there is no method in how she constructs her artworks. In a world where everything seems to lend itself to verbalisation and interpretation, the painter escapes forwards, exiting this foreseeable and calculable realm. She does not surrender to emotional painting: her work cannot be interpreted as lyrical. The viewer follows the painter's pictorial steps, looking for reference points and larger structures, discarding these soon. It is almost as if she could establish a state of levitation and grasp the gaze in this inner space. A space that does not seem homely and from which all memories escape. The viewers look back into the past through this space; their nostalgia is awakened only to disintegrate. József Mélyi

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