The exhibition Abstract Variations draws from the rich artistic materials exhibited at the Apollo Gallery to date, weaving together moments that have shaped the gallery’s identity and spirit as artistic statement. The exhibition is a contemporary art encounter in which different artistic voices and visions enter into a dynamic dialogue, while the connections, tensions and harmonies between the works form a cohesive whole. Abstract Variations showcases the diversity of contemporary abstract art, in which works unfold through variations of forms, colours and materials. These works represent independent yet interrelated artistic positions, emphasising the freedom and continual evolution of contemporary abstraction.
In Dániel Bernáth‘s art, abstraction and natural forms merge into a personal narrative. His paintings add sculptural elements, where the extended forms of wood and canvas take on a new dimension. In his series Personal Pangaea, he explores the harmonious relationship between man and nature, and the ancient motifs of identity and mimicry.
Ádám Dóra‘s paintings are a visual satire of Western consumer culture, exploring the intertwining of materialism and identity through bright colours and loose, grotesque forms. In his works exhibited here, he elevates everyday objects of fast food and tourism to the level of art, reflecting on social and economic mechanisms. His paintings both entertain and provoke, while using symbols of popular culture to question contemporary consumerism.
In István Dukai‘s art, everyday, natural materials – such as hand-woven linen and rusted iron sheets – are given new life, while the geometric forms of Constructivism and Op Art meet the tactile texture of materials. Blurring the boundaries between painting, relief and sculpture, his works reveal the tension between the natural and the artificial world in complex layering. His works reflect both transience and strict compositional orders, rethinking traditional graphic techniques and use of materials.
Tiarna Herczeg‘s works reveal the Aboriginal-Hungarian artist’s dual identity and spiritual heritage, which can be experienced through her large-scale, meditative works. Her paintings offer a deep, ever-present experience where ancestral attachments to nature and the land, as well as personal experiences and feelings, are embodied in abstract forms and shades. Her works are at once luminous and profound, speaking to the deepest philosophical questions of existence, fully embracing and affecting the viewer.
Berlin-based abstract expressionist artist Enikő Márton uses colour and dynamism to depict inner and outer realms in her lyrical, emotive paintings, while the process of creation unfolds as a spontaneous, guided improvisation. Her works radiate a positive energy and light of colour, in which the viewer can engage in a dialogue with their own consciousness and imagination, discovering natural and imaginative forms. Her spiritual creative attitude is deepened by regular meditation and self-reflection, the results of which were showcased in her exhibition The Void Is All.
Laura Medcalf explores the delicate relationship between nature and man, capturing the magic of the moment through organic, blue-tinted works created with materials found at the shores of freshwater and the energy of the sun. Her works display both meditative and dynamic elements of the painting process, reflecting the intimacy of nature and the dynamics of creation. These works, created through controlled spontaneity, reveal the spirit of water in a symbiotic relationship with the forces and materials of nature, moving beyond literal depiction.
Júlia Néma‘s art combines Eastern and Western aesthetic traditions, while also incorporating influences from minimal art, constructivism and conceptualism, creating unique conceptual ceramics and clay paper collages. In her innovative creative processes, she explores the spirituality and material qualities of raw materials from nature, while bringing new dimensions to the notions of earth and paper. Her exhibition Immersion, through works made with natural pigments, traditional craft techniques and her own collected materials, gave insight into her dynamic, lyrical compositions, in which macrocosmic and earthy elements harmoniously merge.
The intertwined worlds of the exhibition come to life in the gallery’s bright spaces through playful yet disciplined compositions. In this way, they outline a dynamic structure of relationships between the artworks, creating an exciting rhythm and unexpected harmonies between form, material, and idea.
