First Solo Exhibition in 2013
István Bába's Solo Exhibition – November 27, 2013, Korunk Studio Gallery
Tradition and Innovation at the Korunk Studio Gallery
It has become a tradition that the Korunk Studio Gallery supports not only renowned artists but also provides opportunities for young creators to showcase their work. This time, István Bába, a third-year university student at the Cluj University of Art and Design (Faculty of Painting), presented his creations. His works, featuring oil paintings and photograms, were praised by art teachers Andor Kőműves and Géza Székely. As their words outlined, Bába’s vision is characterized by his efforts to incorporate traditional artistic language into his unique "trail-seeking" experiments.
The opening was moderated by theater critic Katalin Köllő, and the host of the Korunk Gallery, Lajos Kántor, was also present. The curator of the exhibition was Annamária Magyari. The exhibition was open for viewing until December 17, between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., at the Korunk editorial office located at 52 Eremia Grigorescu (Rákóczi) Street.
Reflections from Art Teacher Géza Székely’s Opening Speech
The Prospects of Trail-Seeking
A thought-provoking and peculiar "coincidence": the ensemble of photograms and oil paintings exhibited at the Korunk Gallery. We could also say that it's a kind of private trail-seeking that István Bába presents to us. As a (presumably) initiated trail-seeker, he is aware that forward-leading traces originate from somewhere. And with good instincts, he senses that without proper attention and professional humility, the "found" traces can be misleading, easily leading astray, ending in a dead-end.
Therefore, he is carefully deliberate, which doesn't exclude that while exploring the inherited treasury of possibilities, he examines with courage befitting his temperament and intellectual nature the possible trajectory of the forward-pointing traces concerning himself. He thus strives to assert and combine the deliberately spontaneous "trace effects" of photographic techniques with academic form studies—in this case, portrait studies.
It is instructive to observe how his monochromatic portrait interpretations, formulated in restrained grays and browns, resonate with the pulsating form world of the photographic experiment series. This allows a glimpse into a path-seeking that values and appreciates professionalism and, within it, all those artistic values that have matured over time.
It is worth noting that his photographic experiments reflect the influence of László Moholy-Nagy's guiding "spiritual finger" (a prominent representative of the Bauhaus School). Partly because Bába also uses the possibilities offered by montage. It can also be observed that he superimposes different spatial experiences, often combining figurativeness with spontaneous blot-line abstract maze structures. He does this by employing the tools of light manipulation, while also intervening with brush, pen, and other drawing tools, thus directing the chemical processes initiated on the photo paper.
Looking at the series achieved in this way, the viewer inevitably recalls Dezső Korniss, an excellent representative of the Szentendre School, through his paintings and graphic works conceived in a similar spirit. Essentially, the way Korniss sees shapes in seemingly accidental blot effects, "developing" various mythological figure associations in the viewer—for example, the concept of the unicorn. I believe such "exit" possibilities are present in the case of István Bába as well.
These "cause-investigative" creations are the trail-seeking reports of an artist at his first solo exhibition. We could even say that a playful young artist who takes himself and art seriously has set out on his trail-seeking path, in the well-founded hope that, by finding the right trail, he will succeed in leaving a forward-pointing trace behind for others as well.
