Figurative representation was always a key point in my work. In recent years I’ve been interested in the idea of androgyny, the Jungian anima-animus theory, and anthropomorphism. Androgyny among humans – physical, psychological, and cultural – is attested to from earliest history and across world cultures. I am interested in the idea of transformation and metamorphosis, in how bodies change into different bodies, and the relationship between aspects of sex, sexuality, and gender.
I made works in various fields such as photo studies, objects, combining photo with painting, and making acrylic works on canvas. The series of black and white analog photographs play with the idea of presenting the shadow aspect, the unconscious state of mind, where the anima and animus together formulate the self. I reused these photos as studies for the paintings.
Another common icon of androgyny is the conjoined male and female figure, often represented with solar and lunar motifs. An analogous representation of this motif is to be found in Hungarian fairy tales. Inspired by this motif, I built the object called “The Bride.” In the case of paintings, I made experiments to inject these ideas into age-old images of old masters, with special interest on the representation of the body. The title E.H.M.S. refers to the four anima levels of state development in Jungian philosophy: Eve, Helen, Mary, and Sofia.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AWD1cxaU3WTIxuNeZygp-Ze_0W22tBH2/view?usp=sharing
Born 1975 Élesd, Romania
Lives and works in Budapest, Hungary and Oradea, Romania.
EDUCATION
2000 BFA Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 Art+Text Budapest, Budapest, Hungary –upcoming-
2016 Forest, Art+Text Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
2015 The Shining Path, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2013 King Give Us Soldiers, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2011 Remastered, Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy
Gods and Mortals, Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Fehérlófia, Son of the White Mare, Ana Cristea Gallery, New York, NY
2009 The Foundries of Ideology, Ana Cristea Gallery, New York, NY
Yesterday’s Heroes, Tomorrow’s Fools, Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008 Monuments, FA Projects, London, UK
Art Factory Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
2006 Hungarian Cultural Institute, Bruxelles, Belgium
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017 Disruptive Imagination, Art Mill, Szentendre, Hungary
2016 Gardens and studios, 20 years of the Art Colony of MUCSARNOK, Budapest, Hungary
Disruptive Imagination, Gallery of Fine Arts, Ostrava, Czech Republic
2015 THE NUDE in the XX & XXI CENTURY, S|2 Gallery, London, UK
2014 Turning Points, , Hungarian National Gallery, Buda Palace, Budapest, Hungary
Defaced, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO
This Side of Paradise, S|2 Gallery, London, UK
2013 Nightfall, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic
Budapest Tales, Scheublein Fine Art, Zurich, Switzerland 2012
Nightfall, MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen, Hungary
Referencing History, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
Zona, MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen, Hungary
2011 East Ex East, Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy Prague Biennale 5, Prague, Czech Republic
Leipzig Walkabout, Ana Cristea Gallery invited by Galerie Eigen + Art, Leipzig, Germany
Art Los Angeles Contemporary (with Mihai Nicodim Gallery), Los Angeles, CA
2010 Uncertain Terrain, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN
After the Fall, HVCCA, Peekskill, NY Year One, Ana Cristea Gallery, New York, NY
Bad Industry, Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Face Your Demons, Milliken Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
In Standard Time, Ana Cristea Gallery, New York, NY
2009 Show Me a Hero, Calvert 22, London, UK
Staging the Grey, Prague Biennale, Prague, Czech Republic
2008 15 Hungarian and Romanian Painters, Plan B, Cluj, Romania
Portraits of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, FA Projects, London, UK
2007 10 years of the Art Colony of Élesd, Ernst Múzeum, Budapest, Hungary
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND PRESS
2014 This Side of Paradise, exhibition catalogue, ed. By Jane Neal. S|2 Gallery. London, UK
2013 Nightfall – New Tendencies in Figurative Painting, exhibition catalogue, ed. By Jane Neal. Galerie
Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic
Kalsi, Jyoti. "An Investigation Of Power Games." Gulf News. January 24,
"Hungarian painter Zsolt Bodoni in Dubai." Time Out Dubai. January 15,
2012 Neal, Jane. "What Lies Beneath." Flash Art. July-September
Remastered exhibition catalogue, interview of Jane Neal. Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy 2011 “After the Fall.” New York Times. 2011
2010 Sicha, Choire. “The 23 Must-Buy Artists of the 2010 Miami Art Fairs.” The Awl, web. Dec 6th.
Chambers, Christopher. “Like a Rolling Stone: Alexander Esters, Peter Gerakaris, Justen Ladda, and Gallery Artists at Ana Cristea Gallery in New York.” Dart International. No 27, Fall
After the Fall exhibition catalogue. HVCCA, New York.
2009 “Back to Storage.” Harper’s Bazaar. November 2009: P.17 Taubman, Lara.
“Zsolt Bodoni at Mihai Nicodim.” Art in America. October 2009: PP.175-176.
“Top 100 Emerging Artists.” Flash Art international. October 2009: PP.52-53
2008 Exley, Roy. “Zsolt Bodoni, FA Projects – London.” Flash Art. November-December
2008 Rudkin, Joe. “Portraits of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” Flavorpill London, 2008
00 36 20 348 38 33
@zsoltbodonid