ARTIST STATEMENT

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

BIOGRAPHY

  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

 

 

 

zsoltbodoni@gmail.com

00 36 20 348 38 33

@zsoltbodonid