József Bullás
Nonserial
József Bullás (b. 1958) is one of the most prominent figures of the contemporary Hungarian art scene. His oeuvre, spanning almost half a century, is the imprint of the work of a restless experimenter, of an artist who is constantly exploring.
Bullás’s works explore the boundaries of structures and repetitive systems, relying on optical illusions beyond perception and pushing the possibilities of spatial and planar dimensions. Using traditional painting techniques, his oil and acrylic canvases address the classical problems of painting, and explore the relationships between composition and space, materiality, vision, and illusion. His imagery, vibrant with color and enriched with optical effects, carries the stylistic traits of today’s virtuality, and complemented by deliberately structured compositions and precise forms. His unique voice and masterful technical solutions make him inimitable.
His latest paintings are inspired by Vera Molnár’s Mont Sainte-Victorie series. These new works are based on an iconic Bullás-grid-structure, unique to him, which he combines with elements reminiscent of mountain ranges, followed by color transitions and perspective effects. In doing so, he creates a visual complexity in each of his works that most closely resembles early digital visuality. These paintings capture a slice of infinite space, with illusory and repetitive geometric shapes and overlapping spatial planes that open new dimensions, never seen before. His exhibited works are fundamentally about a deeper understanding of the interrelationship between space, form, and color, where the mystery of disappearance and reappearance, and the enigma of values, collide with the concreteness of lines.
Bullás’s new paintings can also be seen as an exploration of the connections between past and present, as old sketches serve as the foundation for several works. Some drawings, made ten to twenty years ago, are now given new interpretations, and old, unfinished paintings obtain new layers and meanings. Through this gesture, Bullás is able to create exciting transitions—quasi-bridges—within his own oeuvre. There are no grandiose statements here; it is as if we are looking at the pages ofhis private notebook, on which he attempts to interpret reality. The central work in the exhibition is an installation of 50 x 50 cm paintings, which can be seen either as a diary written by the artist over several decades or as a special window into Bullás’s past and present.
József Bullás was born in Zalaegerszeg in 1958 and was awarded the prestigious Mihály Munkácsy Prize in 2008. He graduated from the Painting Department of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in 1984. He has exhibited his works in important venues such as the 18th São Paulo Biennale and Ars Electronica in Linz. His works can be found in collections such as the St. Stephen King Museum in Székesfehérvár, the Modern Gallery in Szombathely, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Ludwig Museum, and the Neue Gallery in Graz, among others.
For more information, please contact the gallery.
Opening: December 5, 2024, Thursday, 18:00
Opening speech by: Délia Vékony, Art Historian
On view: December 6, 2024 - January 31, 2025
Open: Wednesday – Friday, 12 am – 6 pm, and by appointment