ENG
You might say that Szabolcs Veres paints not people, but the memory of them. The faces he sets down in oil and impasto do not so much emerge as flicker—half-formed, caught between presence and absence, like something glimpsed through an old, steamed window. The usual hierarchies—foreground, background; skin, shadow; beauty, blemish—are politely ignored. Instead, the canvas becomes an excavation site: layers of colour, gesture, and erasure. One could call it neo-expressionism, though labels tend to slide off.
He is Romanian, from Satu Mare, but works in Cluj-Napoca—city of sharp minds and long winters. Studied there too, all the way through to a doctorate, which is perhaps why his paintings have the air of being both impulsive and considered, the product of instinct but also of argument.
Veres is of that quiet generation of Eastern European artists for whom history is a smudge, identity a patchwork. His figures—solitary, spectral—seem to know this. They refuse easy legibility. You think: who are they? But the better question might be: What would they like to tell us?
DE
Man könnte sagen, dass Szabolcs Veres nicht Menschen malt, sondern ihre Erinnerung. Die Gesichter, die er mit Öl und pastosem Farbauftrag auf die Leinwand bringt, tauchen nicht so sehr auf, sondern flackern – halb geformt, gefangen zwischen Anwesenheit und Abwesenheit, wie etwas, das man durch ein altes, beschlagenes Fenster erhascht. Die üblichen Hierarchien – Vordergrund, Hintergrund; Haut, Schatten; Schönheit, Makel – werden höflich ignoriert. Stattdessen wird die Leinwand zu einer Ausgrabungsstätte: Schichten aus Farbe, Gestik und Auslöschung. Man könnte es als Neo-Expressionismus bezeichnen, doch solche Etiketten gleiten meist ab.
Er ist Rumäne, aus Satu Mare, arbeitet jedoch in Cluj-Napoca – Stadt der scharfen Köpfe und langen Winter. Dort hat er auch studiert, bis hin zur Promotion, was seinen Bildern vielleicht jenes Spannungsfeld verleiht: zugleich impulsiv und reflektiert, aus dem Instinkt geboren und doch argumentativ durchdrungen.
Veres gehört zu jener stillen Generation osteuropäischer Künstler, für die Geschichte ein Schleier, Identität ein Flickwerk ist. Seine Figuren – einsam, geisterhaft – scheinen das zu wissen. Sie verweigern sich einfacher Lesbarkeit. Man fragt sich: Wer sind sie? Doch die bessere Frage wäre vielleicht: Was wollen Sie uns mitteilen ?
1983 | born in Satu Mare / RO |
2006 | Bachelor of Arts, University of Art and Design, Painting Department, Cluj-Napoca / RO |
2008 | M.A., University of Art and Design, Painting Department, Cluj-Napoca/ RO |
2012 | PhD, University of Art and Design, Cluj-Napoca/ RO |
Currently lives and works in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
SOLO EXHIBITONS
2016 | One year of solitude, Galerie Martin Kudlek, Cologne / D |
2013 | A wicked dance under the trees, Bazis, Cluj-Napoca / RO |
2012 | Veres Szabolcs-Solo Show, Prometeo Gallery di Ida Pisani, Milan / I |
2010 | HYLE, Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York / USA |
2008 | Studies for hunt, Casa Matei Gallery, Cluj-Napoca / RO |
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 | Group Show, Viewing Room 17,Cluj Napoca,/RO |
(re)Constructing Visions,Muzeul de Arta, Cluj Napoca, /RO | |
2019 | Changing Places, Institute of Contemporary Art,Dunaujvaros/HU |
The Night Watch,Muzeul de Arta, Cluj Napoca, /RO | |
2018 | Blind Date, Muzeul de Arta, Cluj Napoca, /RO |
2017 | Disruptiv Imagination, The House of art,Ostrava/CR |
Hyle,Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York/ USA | |
On Paper,Bazis Contemporary Centrul de Interes,Cluj Napoca/ RO | |
2016 | Wasted Time, Art Capital, Szentendre, /HU |
2015 | Never Alone, The National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNCA), Bucharest / RO |
painting – cluj, Galerie Martin Kudlek, Cologne/ D | |
2014 | The Flesh of Things. Un-Painting the Romantics, Jecza Gallery, Timisoara / RO> |
Hidden Field, Bazis Platform + ultrastudio, Pescara / I | |
2013 | ABSORPTION, ANAID Art Gallery, Bucharest / RO |
DISTORTED REALITIES artists from Paintbrush Factory Cluj-Napoca, LARM Gallery, Copenhagen / DK | |
MUTATIONS, bazin contemporary art platform, Berlin / D | |
Through a glass darkly – faces past and present, Kunsthalle Budapest / HU | |
2012 | CLUJ meets BERLIN, bazin contemporary art platform, Berlin / D |
European Travellers. Art from Cluj Today, Kunsthalle Budapest / HU | |
2011 | SPARTA – dell’altra arte, White Project Gallery, Pescara / I |
BERLIN SHOW #3: Glimpse, Plan B Gallery, Berlin / D | |
Welcome tot he Uncanny Valley, BAZIS Contemporary Art Galllery, F.D.P. – Fabrica de Pensule, Cluj-Napoca / RO | |
2010 | Unusual Suspects, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest / RO |
2009 | Heroes and Fears, with Oana Farcas, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest / RO |
Growth, Parti Gallery, Pecs / HU | |
BAZIS Contemporary Art Gallery, Miercurea Ciuc / RO | |
Under Natural Circumstances, MODEM – Modern and Contemporary Art Center, Debrecen / HU | |
2008 | Ready – Steady – Growth!, Bazis Group, Bulgakov Gallery, Cluj-Napoca / RO |
2007 | Rehau ArtGala, MNAC – National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest / RO |
Maniphesto, Preview Gallery, Cluj-Napoca / RO | |
2006 | Europa Artium, Cluj-Napoca / RO |
2005 | Tobacco Flesh with Dan Maciuca, Radio Cluj Gallery, Cluj-Napoca/ RO |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2010 ArtPress 365, March
2010 FlavorWire, May 6th
2010 ARtDaily, June 11th