|
|
|
|
Artist Exhibitions:
Biography
Born in Hungary,Szeged in 1958
2006 Roman scholarship, Rome
Hungarian Academy
2005 Hungart Scholarship
2003 Scholarship of Frankfurt
2000 Munkácsy-award
1995-96 DAAD scholarship,
Atelierhaus Worpswede, Germany
1993 Exhibition of MŰ-TEREM,
scholarship of Salzburg
1990 Barcsay-award, Villa
Waldberta scholarship,
Munich/Feldafing, Germany
1989-90...
Further Information
|
|
Artist Galleries:
Coming Soon!
|
|
Artist Reviews:
1958-Szeged,Hungary
1977-81 Academy of Fine
Arts,Faculty of
Painting,Budapest
1987-90 Derkovits Scholarship
1989-90
Pollock-KrasnerFoundation
Scholarship
1991 Barcsay Foundation Prize
2000 Munkácsy Prize
Member of the Hungarian
Foundation for the Arts and
the Hungarian Artists
Association...
Further Information
|
|
Collections:
Library of Békéscsaba
Hungarian National Gallery
Gallery of Szombathely
Nagykőrös, Mayor’s Office
Sczecin, Modern Museum
(Poland)
München, Mayor’s Office
(Deutschland)
Studio Archives, Young
Artists’ Studio
Paks, Modern Gallery
Dunaújváros, Art-Today
Foundation
Salzburg, City Collection
(Austria)
Kisújszállás, City...
Further Information
|
|
Commissions:
Coming Soon!
|
|
|
Artist Statement for Kopasz Tamas
|
|
|
"Fluctuation and turbulence
Painting 2002–2007
One might say, since the courses and solutions of the Kopaszian oeuvre can be grasped by means of metaphors only, that with the series Renaissance, the genie was released from the lamp. The gestural idiom rapidly proliferates and the almost monochrome schemes switch to passionate colourism and the pictures are imbued with light. The layers no longer restrain, but rather liberate, each other; subtle transparencies, translucencies and blends keep the surfaces in perpetual motion. The artist often uses pentimento. Pentimento is the coming-out of the gesture painter. “In a moment man’s body turns inside out, and what was innermost is now vulnerably on the outside,” Béla Kondor writes in one of his poems. The order of brushstrokes is visible; the surface becomes a series of painterly decisions. The brushstrokes tell it all, even the ones the painter has “repented.” Which is from where the Italian pentimento derives, meaning to repent or change your mind.
Tensions and relief, desire and fulfilment are materialised in the subordinated, superimposed or juxtaposed layers of the works in the Renaissance cycle. Having departed from reality a long time ago, Kopasz seeks to help us break away from reality, to relieve us from the pathetic view of the real world and to present us an alternative reality which, provided we allow it to penetrate us, will enables to get in touch with our most intimate feelings. The pictures attract and repulse, foster meditative contemplation and require spiritual knowledge. In the what appears to be disorder is in chaotic order. The artist gives form to formlessness. The early works in the Renaissance series force the gestures into the mass of an oval, head-shaped area; in the later works only the edge of the paper or the lyrical sfumato puffs colour in the background get in the way of the brushstrokes or, more often than not, the angry brush-strikes. The illusion of space and subtle handling of light explain why the title of the series is Renaissance.
The Baroque series (2005) was painted on canvas. The return of the canvas attests to the fact that textural effects have made a return. Paper will not tolerate pent-up, baroquesque passions and the pasty application of oil paint. Impasto is one of the favourite techniques of Abstract Expressionists because it lends itself well to displaying the energy that went into creating the work, as well as the direction and speed of the brushstrokes.
The flows of raised paint, their intersections create immense turbulence in the picture. One of the peculiarities of Abstract Expressionist pictures is that the story of their creation is an open book, the movement of paint, the bends, tugs, hiccups or slides of the hand applying the paint is revealed to us manifestly. Kopasz’ titles refer to works of music. The desire of painting to be as spiritual as music is not a new phenomenon. Kandinsky, who was profoundly occupied with the relationship of music and painting, gave music-related titles to many of his works. Kandinsky claimed that when religion and science got mixed up, man turned his attention from external matters and began to focus on the world within. This spiritual revolution affected the most sensitive spheres, such as literature, music and the fine arts. Abstract art is indicative of this inward focus. In Kopasz’ art the strengthening of spiritual features is in direct proportion to the free flow of gestures. The Baroque series betrays cathartic experiences. The often melancholic, gloomy moods are supplanted by the magical enjoyment of painting, an anticipation of fulfilment. The titles of Baroque quote the arias of Händel’s opera Ariodante that are widely regarded as the Baroque composer’s most expressive arias. The choice of title is no accident. The turbulent emotions expressed by the arias of Ariodante have much in common with the canvases in this series. Unusually for Kopasz, the most beautiful pieces of the cycle are in landscape format. The works have a horizontal, unimpeded flow, as if the open undulation never ended. But the heights of endless passion only captivate the artist for a few moments; the portrait format returns soon, together with the whirling lines and the superimposed brushstrokes. The most special works of the series are Kopasz’ heads wound in purple bands of paint, strongly reminiscent of József Gaál’s carved-wood heads bandaged in strips of leather.
The state of emotional exaltation persists in the Bach series and the second Händel series painted in 2007. The colour schemes are enriched, Kopasz wanders into even more daring hues and his palette becomes brighter. Brightness is apparent in the works of Bach in particular, and if anyone suggested the musical titles are merely an artistic whim, I would argue. It is said about Bach that he wrote music to God, and Händel to the world. Comparison of the series inspired by the two composers reveals a very different world of colours. The works dedicated to Bach are brighter, the yellows and blues are redolent with relief; the Händel pictures are unsettling, but Dixit Dominus and Utrecht Te Deum also feature some brighter colours. These particular works have much in common with the music of Bach. I do not wish to go into a musical-historical argument to support my ideas, only to reiterate that Kopasz’ titles are deliberate and well thought-out, and musical parallels help to shed light on his expressive world."
Nagy T.Katalin,art historian
|
|
contact artist
