THE WALL OF HAPPINESS

Wallpeople brought the Wall of Happiness to Budapest as part of their global, interactive photography project.

MATHIAS SCHAUWECKER: THE INDISTINCT BREATH OF THE IMAGE

Swiss artist Mathias Schauwecker returns to the Várfok Galéria in Budapest, two years after his previous show, to exhibit his latest series of images exploring the human physique and psyche.

RETHINK/REBUTTON!

The Design Terminal is currently exhibiting 35 of the most innovative pieces created for the Rethink/Rebutton fashion competition which was held on the 8th of May 2011. The competition brief challenged local designers to inject new life into traditional Hungarian costume. Designers who were updating the indigenous dresses created a mixture of wearable clothing, extravagant costume and accessories. I went along to the show to check out the best designs...

SURFACE @ THE CRYPT CALLERY

Curated by Louise Harrington and Fiona Chaney, the show will consist of  27 artists from the fields of video installation, photography, painting, drawing, mixed media, sculpture and performance. 

MOME graduate fashion show 2011

On Friday the 24th of June, the 16 graduate fashion designers from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME) showed off their final-year collections in the opulent setting of the Budapest Royal Palace.

PRINTA: UPCYCLE FASHION SHOW

Local Hungarian fashion designers unveiled their latest recycled clothing collection 'Upcycle' at the Printa Akadémia.

BUDAPEST ART ON LAKE

Budapest's City Park Lake has been turned into an enormous outdoor gallery to celebrate Hungary's term as chair holder for the Council of the European Union. 

WATCH ME MOVE

I have a confession to make. It's something which I've tried to keep to myself for some time now but I feel like I really need to just come clean: I love cartoons.

MODART Graduate Fashion Show 2011

There's a certain standard of showmanship which I've come to expect from graduate fashion shows.

GERGELY SZŐKE 'A'

Last night I went along to the opening party for Budapest University of Fine Arts graduate Gergely Szőke's first solo show 'A'.

LIKE ANYONE ELSE

like anyone else from women with a movie camera on Vimeo.

Women With A Movie Camera aka Iris Wakulenko and  Chryssa Panoussiadou recently sent me a link to their latest documentary Like Anyone Else and I felt compelled to share it with you all. The short film is essentially a human rights story, exploring the themes of marriage and equality for same-sex couples. Filmed at various Royal Wedding street parties in the heart of London's gay district, the two creatives have created a piece which truly celebrates love in all its forms.  In 2009 I had the pleasure of interviewing Iris for jotta.com (the piece has sadly been taken down after Jotta deleted almost all of its back-catalogue of articles) during the promotion of Two Way Love, a wonderful short film created in collaboration with the Kyoto University of Art & Design which explores the relationships of Japanese and Western cross-cultural couples.

To learn more about Women With A Movie Camera and watch more of their short films then check out their brand new website!

IT'S NOT JUST MEDICINE - AN INTERVIEW WITH RUNE K DREWSEN

Last week I had the chance to meet up with the Danish graphic designer Rune K Drewsen during his brief visit to Budapest.

POP CITY TRASH

Pop City Trash, an exhibition showcasing the photographic work of Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe has just opened in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest. Featuring selected pieces from his Urban Jungles, Elegantly Wasted and Scenes In The Key Of Life collections, the show is a must see for lovers of 21st century Pop Art...

GYULA DERKOVITS ART SCHOLARSHIP

Endre Kis 

As mentioned in yesterday's post, this is the final week of the Gyula Derkovits Art Scholarship Review exhibition at the Ernst Múzeum.  If you haven't had the chance to go yet then One A Day highly recommends you do before it closes on the 29th of May.

Mariann Fa

For those of you who are unaware of the Gyula Derkovits Art Scholarship, it was founded by the Hungarian state in 1955. The initiative was open to artists under the age of 35 and those who succeeded in winning a scholarship were provided with a grant to support their creative practise whether they be a painter, sculptor, graphic or media artist. Back then it was only around 3000 Hungarian Forint over a period of three years  (which by today's standards is roughly £3.23 per year)  but now the scholars receive 80,000 HUF over a period of 11 months.

Gábor Fülöp

Each year there are roughly 200 applicants for the 10 open positions in the first year of the scholariship. The reason the scholarship is so popular is not only down to the program's prestige but because it is the only form of stable support from the government.

For full details head over to the Ernst Múzeum website.

GYULA DERKOVITS ART SCHOLARSHIP: GRAPHIC DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION

István Csákány
The 2010 Grantees of the Gyula Derkovits Art Scholarship Review exhibition is in its final week at the Ernst Múzeum. Featuring 30 artists in total, the show features a vast array of creative disciplines and styles. In this installment One A Day will focus on the graphic design and illustrative work which was exhibited. István Csákány's piece 'Suspended' immediately catches your eye as you enter the exhibition. The woodcut piece is based on an old archive image of workers removing the 'Snake Killer' sculpture by Hungarian artist Pál Pátczay. The original image dates back to post World War II events when the statue, which was supposed to be erected in honour of Raul Wallenberg, a diplomat who helped to rescue many Jews from the Holocaust, was removed and hidden by the Communist government.

Anikó Loránt
Anikó Loránt's illustrations are wonderfully carefree and full of colour. Using both paper and wood as a canvas, the images are perfectly suited for children's story books. Anikó displays 8 pieces in total, the titles of which form a poem: 'There is no model for rationality, all the gods are laughing out loud,  how could they fit in when the sun does not need them to dance on a narrow fence.' 

Ádám Albert
'Find the key!' and 'RAF manual' by Ádám Albert were firm favourites at the exhibition. The Veszprém born graphic designer has earned scholarships in Rome, Munich and has won the ESSL art award - the Gyula Derkovits Scholariship is another impressive accolade to add to the list!

Beatrix Szörényi
There was also some typographic work in the form of Beatrix Szörényi's  Prophecy font chart. The font itself has been aggressively scribbled over and defaced making some of the letters almost illegible.

Attack of the Giant Holyshit!

After giving up on the Urban Treasure Hunt last weekend One A Day stumbled across this brilliant solo exhibition by Zsolt Domsodi which is currently on show at the Gruzzwe gallery. The ever so subtly titled 'Attack Of The Giant Holyshit!' sees Zsolt mix together his love for illustration and the undead...

Zsolt draws inspiration from old B-movie posters to create his own twisted, grotesque artworks full of zombies, blood, guts, aliens and cannibalistic clowns. In another series of images, Zsolt depicts several adorable feathered and furry friends being tortured or dismembered - so the animal lovers amongst you should probably steer clear of this exhibition!

Zsolt graduated in 2010 from the KREA Contemporary Arts Institute with a degree in graphic design and has since been turning his talents towards video game design as well as exhibiting his works in and around Hungary.

To learn more about Zsolt and to see more of his work, head over to his official site

COLØURLESS

 Just got back from the opening of COLØURLESS at Ötkert, Budapest. The exhibition showcases a selection of Hungary's most talented up-and-coming creatives from the fields of graphics, photography and video art. Curator Noémi Beszédes has selected 11 artists in total including Áron Filkey,  Donát Áron Ertsey and Benedek Kristóf Kiss all of whom share one common thread throughout their work - a lack of colour!

The minimal colour palette gives the exhibition both a classic yet thoroughly contemporary aesthetic. Highlights included some deconstructed photographs of Hungarian architectural buildings and an illustrated portrait of a family of mexican luchadores.

For full details head over to the facebook event page

Ötkert

1054 Budapest Zrínyi utca 4.

Budapest, Hungary

Exhibition runs until 7th June

Orsi Szemethy: Méla Madonna

One A Day popped along to the opening of the new Orsi Szemethy show which has just opened at the Spiritusz Galéria, Budapest. The show, titled 'Méla Madonna' sees Orsi walking the fine line between painter and graphic artist as she deals with the concept of mythological and biblical female characters.

Orsi takes classical motifs and compositions before recreating them in her own unique style. There is a naive charm to the images she creates, which appear more illustrative than painterly. The characters which Orsi creates are somewhat Disney-like with wide innocent eyes and pink, rosy cheeks. In fact, some of the characters bear an almost uncanny resemblance to the Disney adaptations of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty that you have to do a double take.



Orsi Szemethy was born in Budapest and studied at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts before embarking on studies in  Guatemala and Paris. She is now one of the Spiritusz Galéria's resident artists and is also part of the creative collective Metamor.


Spiritusz Galéria

Budapest 1012
Várfok u. 14.
http://spiritusz-galeria.hu/

Urban Treasure Hunt

Summer seems to have finally arrived and what better way to spend the weekend than taking part in Budapest's Urban Treasure Hunt?

The Urban Treasure Hunt was first masterminded by Danish creatives Rune K Drewsen and Mimi Larsson of Rumkammerat in Copenhagen. Following the success of the Urban Treasure Hunt in their native city, the two teamed up with Hungarian artists Dénes Fekete, Marci Bojti, Análog and Dóra Jánosi to bring the challenge to Budapest.

The aim is to find the ten clues which come in the shape of temporary artworks and installations dotted around the city, until finally you can solve the combination to the treasure chest in the final, secret location.

Although this might sound like it is designed for kids, the Urban Treasure Hunt is a great way to experience the city in a totally new way. You start to look at your surroundings in a different light and begin to notice things you had never seen before.

I only managed to make it to the third clue before becoming well and truly confused. I ended up on a pointless quest to the top of one of the hills in the XII district of Budapest (in my mind it made perfect sense) to try and find the fourth clue but to no avail.

So if - unlike me - you have a) a map and b) the cognitive skills - then head off to the Gödör Klub for your first clue!

The Urban Treasure Hunt runs until the 29th of May 2011.
Website (in English and Hungarian): http://www.rumkammerat.dk/Rumkammerat/Basic-info

Day 2 Budapest Essential Looks Highlights

Day 2 of Budapest Essential Looks offered even more beautiful collections from Hungary's best fashion designers. There were too many to choose from so we've whittled it down to a few of our favourites: