Zsolt Bodoni, Untitled, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 95 x 70 cm
Péter Sudar
Roland Horvath, 'Grillsuto (Oven)', 2007
Oil on canvas, 80 x 60 cm
Zsolt Bodoni, Roland Horváth, Péter Sudar, and Dorottya Szabo are part of a unique generation that knew communism in childhood, witnessed its disintegration during adolescence and experienced Hungary's transition into democracy in early adulthood. Yet while it is possible to find evidence of how such an eventful growing up has shaped and influenced the artists' awareness of the changing world around them (most notably perhaps in Horváth's sensitive, even reverential treatment of the most mundane domestic appliances or tacky ephemera), it is equally possible to see how the weight of Hungary's great imperial past has impressed itself on the minds of its artists, such as in Szabo's strange depictions of heads coupled with images derived from the popular decorative stone work of the imperial period.
While the subject matter of the four artists is highly varied, many of their works could be regarded as portraits despite the absence in some of human form. Historically, artists have often used the still life as a means of creating a portrait (projecting the self onto an object such as a chair, thus at once protecting the sitter while at the same time communicating a sense of loneliness or anxiety). That this is a recurring motif in contemporary Hungarian painting is unsurprising when one considers identity remains a sensitive issue in Hungary (for example, many Hungarians find their roots in the countries of the former Austro-Hungarian empire and Transylvanian Hungarians hold Romanian passports, yet they are classed as 'Ethnic Hungarians').
Sudar's portraits, however, engage directly with the viewer. In a series of works that could be described as his 'modern helmet series', he has carefully selected suggestive contemporary props to 'accessorise' the figure in order to ape some of art history's most iconic works, such as Velasquez's Mars (c 1599-60). If Sudar's portraits are challengingly direct, Bodoni's works sweep us into a dark theatre of suppressed anger and melancholy and bright bursts of passion; the artist capturing our attention with his use of broad and gestural brushwork. There is humour too - albeit dark and ironic, and this runs a course through the show underscoring all of the artists' work.
Jane Neal
Zsolt Bodoni, Roland Horváth, Péter Sudar, and Dorottya Szabo: Portraits of yesterday, today and tomorrow
Curated by Jane Neal
16 May - 28 June
fa projects
1-2 Bear Gardens
London SE1 9ED
T: +44 (0)207 928 3228
Jane Neal is an Oxford-based freelance critic and curator. Her special focus over the past three years has been the developing art scene in Central and Eastern Europe. She contributes to a wide variety of international art publications including Art in America, Art Review, Flash Art, Map Magazine and Modern Painters, and writes regularly for The Telegraph. Neal curated the landmark show 'Cluj Connection', for Haunch of Venison's Zurich space (November 2006- January 2007).
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