The hall with three large windows is the only one in the Műcsarnok that allows you to see the trees of the City Park: it is the perfect place for visitors to meet Gábor Fülöp’s brilliantly sculpted, mysterious anthropomorphic figures. Although at this time – late autumn and winter – nature might not show us her most attractive side, the fact that wooden sculptures can directly engage with the outside world has the potential to convey special messages. Some of these life-size figures with harmonious proportions evoke the archaic sculpture of ancient times, while the plant and animal motifs on their surfaces as well as their symbiosis with the human body create a simultaneously humorous and bizarre sight linking them to both Mannerism and Surrealism.
We should no longer just maintain the harmony between man and nature but restore it, healing the wounds inflicted upon Earth, which requires a new approach to the world that surrounds us. Flora and fauna, fathoming the mysteries of life, retaining values, revering the power of nature and ensuring the perpetual cycle of life are the basic tenets of Fülöp’s sculptural world. The symbiosis between man, animal and vegetation as well as the restoration and preservation of the balance and harmony of nature are the key to the survival of humankind and life on Earth. This is more relevant than ever before.
Curator : Marianna Mayer
After completing his studies at the Vocational Art School of Nyíregyháza Gábor Fülöp enrolled in the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, where he graduating from the department of sculpture in 2008 as a student of Pál Kő and Péter Gálhidy. He won the Bertalan Székely (2004) and Erasmus scholarships in 2005, and one from the Ludwig Foundation in 2006, in which year he received the Géza Samu Prize. In 2007 he won the first prize at the Füvészkert sculptural competition. His talent was recognised immediately after graduation: he won the Derkovits scholarship, in 2009 the KOGART Prize, and in 2012 the scholarship of the Hungarian Academy in Rome. The Műcsarnok first invited him to participate in the exhibition Plastica Dreams featuring young sculptors and then at the fine art salons in 2015 (Here and Now) and 2020 (Artonomy). His works were displayed in 2013 at the show titled Deadly Nature in MODEM in Debrecen and at the Hungarian National Gallery’s show Living Collection in 2019. He was able to exhibit his art abroad, including Bologna (2011), Hong Kong (2011), Munich (2012), Shanghai (2012), Maribor (2014) and at the Hungarian Academy in Rome (2014). His works can be found in Hungarian and foreign collections alike. He lives and works in Budapest.
Simultaneously – Studio Visits
Zoltán Bánföldi | Zsófia Bérczi | Győző Byhon | Gábor Fülöp | Réka Gergely | Tibor Pataki | Péter Rizmayer | Nóra Soós | László Tenk
MŰCSARNOK Kunsthalle Budapest | 28 October 2020 – 10 January 2021
http://mucsarnok.hu/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?mid=N1EB4zaRWOFl8KrOxHvOTY
virtual opening: https://www.facebook.com/events/788612371708763