Cutting-Edge: Modern Hungarian Glass

ZOLTAN BOHUSPETER BORKOVICSPETER BOTOSISTVAN CZEBEGYORGY GASPARLASZLO HEFTERZSUZSANNA KORODIMARIA LUGOSSYLASZLO LUKACSIMIHALY MELCHERBALAZS SIPOSAGNES SMETANAMARGIT TOTHDORA VARGAZSUZSA VIDAHAJNALKA VIRAG

Cutting-Edge: Modern Hungarian Glass

1 - 28 April 2015

The Scottish Gallery is delighted to present its first ever contemporary Hungarian glass exhibition, which has been curated by Attila Sik from Prisma Gallery, Birmingham. Cutting-Edge showcases 16 contemporary Hungarian glass artists, representing both emerging makers and established artists such as Zoltan Bohus and Laszlo Hefter, some of which have never exhibited in Scotland.

There is a broad range of technical skill and innovation within this exhibition as well as a wide variety of expression from abstract to narrative works, which combines both traditional and new technologies. Cutting-Edge aims to highlight the diversity of the field and explores the unique properties that makes Hungarian glass so distinctive and on a par with the best of Czech, Italian and Scandinavian glass. This exhibition therefore offers a unique opportunity to engage with a range of high end work from Eastern Europe.

“One of the highlights of a Glass Association trip to Vienna and Hungary in 2013 was an exhibition of studio glass, made all the more special by the presence of many of the glass artists themselves. It was only later that we realised the exhibition – beautifully lit and displayed – was laid on especially for us, for that one evening. There were some very experienced collectors in the group, but there was no doubting the excitement at the sheer magic of the glass on display, and at the skill and artistry that went into its creation. So I am delighted that The Scottish Gallery, always such a supporter of studio glass artists, and Attila Sik, who arranged our visit to Hungary, have collaborated to bring this exhibition of the country’s wonderful glass to Edinburgh.” Dr Jill Turnbull

Front cover: Layers, Zoltan Bohus, 2014, laminated, ground and polished glass, 40 x 20 x 20 cmsLeft: Woman with Apple, Balazs Sipos, 2014, kiln cast, acid etched polished glass, 55 x 22 x 15 cms

INTRODUCTIONby Attila Sik, Prisma Gallery

Hungarian glass has a long history which is intertwined with the history of Italian, Bohemian, and Czech studio glass. It is unsurprising if we consider that centuries ago Hungary was a large country, three times the size of the current one. In the medieval period glass was mainly used for industrial purposes, but with the influx of Venetian glass makers in the early 17th century, new techniques and artistry were introduced to Hungary. In the 18th and 19th century the method of Hungarian glass making reflected the hegemony of Venetian blown glass and Czech-Moravia and German crystal glass styles. Numerous small glass furnaces and factories were scattered all over the country. Prior to 1945 glass was handmade in workshops and as a result, Hungarian glassware was rarely seen in the European market. One of the exceptions was the important glassworks in Northern Hungary in Zlatno where Janos Gyorgy Zahn ran his factory. The name of this factory is associated with iridescent glass because of the brilliant inventor Valentin Leo Pantocsek who worked there. He invented the iridescent technique which was exhibited and admired at the 1862 Great London Exposition. Zahn’s factory could not make the novel technique a commercial success, but the Austrian Josef Lobmeyr, owner of the J&L Lobmeyr, saw great potential in this new development and after mastering the technique, Lobmeyr made the iridescent glass very popular in the 1870s.

The first important figure in the history of Hungarian glass design in the 20th century was Julia Bathory. As a Bauhaus student she studied in Munich in the 1920’s and then set up a glass studio in Paris. After returning to Hungary in 1940 she started to teach modern ideas of studio glass to students at the Vocational School of Fine and Applied Arts. The higher education of glass design was established at the College of Applied Arts in Budapest in 1965. The founder and the head of department, Gyorgy Z. Gacs was a painter and therefore the approach of modern Hungarian glass design derived from fine art, rather than the applied arts. For example his successor, Zoltan Bohus, whose work is exhibited in this exhibition, received his major in ornamental painting.

In the Central and Eastern European region, Czech glass had the greatest tradition and reputation. Being neighbours, the two countries had substantial artistic collaborations and several Hungarian glass artists went to learn the trade from the Czech masters. For example Zsuzsa Vida who was tutored by Bathory in Budapest, received a scholarship to study at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague where her tutors included Stanislav Libensky and Karel Vanura.

The first truly international breakthrough of the Hungarian studio glass movement was in 1979. The Corning Glass Museum, New York, which is the largest American glass institution, organised a travelling exhibition of modern glass from all over the world. Out of the 270 artists which were represented, there were four Hungarian glass artists: Zoltan Bohus, Zsuzsa Vida, Erzsebet Katona, and Mari Meszaros. The exhibition toured for three years and travelled around the world including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris and Seubu Museum of Arts, Tokyo.

Contemporary Hungarian glass has gained international recognition in the past decades. Major museums all over the world, from the Musee du Louvre to the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum and important glass collectors, are familiar with many of the Hungarian glass artists, which are proudly exhibited in their collections. Artists including Peter Borkovics, Gyorgy Gaspar, Maria Lugossy, Laszlo Lukacsi and many others have received prestigious international recognition including prizes and awards at the International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa, the Fujita Prize, Libensky Award and the Coburg International glass exhibition to name a few.

The approach to modern Hungarian glass has developed from the field of fine arts. Cutting-Edge provides an opportunity to understand and view this unique approach by bringing together works by 16 selected contemporary Hungarian glass artists covering several generations of glass making.

Zoltan Bohus studied painting at the Hungarian Academy of Craft and Design, Budapest from 1961-1966 and glass design from 1963-1966.

“Almost fifty years ago I graduated from the painting department. Then I taught glass design for 44 years, which I really liked. Recently, the old things are coming back, and again I am interested in the colours. Sometimes I meditate on whether what I am creating is a picture or statue. How do you see?”

Selected Awards:Kossuth Prize, Hungary, 2014International Glass Exhibition, SNAI, Troyes, France, 1991

Public Collections Include:Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, Hungary Hungarian Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, HungaryCorning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y. USAThe Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, USAKunstmuseum Dusseldorf, GermanyStadt Felbach, Felbach, GermanyMuseum fur Kunst und Gewerbe Immenhausen, Hamburg, GermanyKunstammlungen der Veste Coburg, Coburg, GermanySussmuth Museum, Immenhausen, GermanyIndianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, USA

ZOLTAN BOHUS b.1941

Layers, Zoltan Bohus, 2014, laminated, ground and polished glass, 40 x 20 x 20cms

PETER BORKOVICS b.1971

Peter Borkovics graduated from the Hungarian Academy of Craft and Design in 1994 before completing a Masters Degree in 1995. He is currently a teacher in the Glass Department at the Secondary School of Fine and Applied Arts, Budapest.

“Glass –it’ a notion…It was born into our real world from the unattainable infinity of our imagination. Objectivized. Fragile message between the crystalclear depth of our mind and the trangible, mortal world. It is the light that gives a soul to the glass, and it is the light that takes it back among the dreams of our closed eyelids’ shadow. Metal testifies the preference of creative man, it is only struktural, secondary element with glass. Glass hides something spiritual in its material, our task is just to pull the cork out of the bottle.”

Selected Awards:International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa, Honorable Mention, Japan, 201342nd Annual International Glass Invitational Award Winners, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Michigan, USA, 2014

Public Collections Include:International Glass Collection Bardudvarnok, (Maria Goszthony Fundation)Hungaruian Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, Hungary

East Philosophy 2, Peter Borkovics, 2015, kiln formed sheet glass, 36 x 34 x 4 cms

“As a self-taught artist, I have been working with optical glass to produce glass sculptures and complex glass compositions. In the beginning I created articles for everyday use, gradually migrating to medallions and trophies, then glass objects. Rooted in “Constructivism”, my artistic goal has not been to translate my ideas and designs into mass production but rather to further express “eternality”, and often geometric stylistic influences into the dynamism of modern life. When one looks at my “constructions,” it is easy to imagine them as small-scale architectural models.”

Selected Awards:Museum of Applied Arts Zsolnay Jewellery Tender, Special Award, 2011First International Silicate Art Triennial, Kecskemet, Hungary, Special Jury Prize and Audience Award, 2005Hungarian Handicraft, Special Award in Arts category, 2005

Public Collections Include:International Mobil MADI Museum,Vac,Hungary, 2013

PETER BOTOS b.1945

Blue Cubes, Peter Botos, 2014, cut and polished optical glass, 33 x 10 x 10 cms

ISTVAN CZEBE b.1967

Istvan Czebe graduated as a glass designer from the Hungarian Academy of Craft and Design in 1992 where he also obtained his Masters diploma in 1996.

“To me, glass is stretching the boundaries of the risk and reality in search of why certain forms and structures have to be created using this material.This process is an ongoing debate with myself about what you want and what you do not want to shape. What is the relationship between the idea and the reality, and how it shapes the object and the creator of the object at the same time? I think there is no confidence or certainty in the glass, and this is independent of the knowledge of the material, or the amount of time spent with it. I am looking for a balance, the liminality, or whatever it is called, when the imagined form and the material are able to express the creative intent at the same time; the very reason it was created.”

Selected Awards:Ferenczy Noemi Award, 2003Hungarian Contemporary Glass, Grand Prize, Gyor, Hungary, 1998

Public Collections Include:International Glass Collection Bardudvarnok, (Maria Goszthony Fundation)Rippl-Ronai Museum, Kaposvar, Hungary

Sitting Bull, Istvan Czebe, 2014, fused, acid etched and polished glass, 73 x 43 x 12cms

GYORGY GASPAR b.1976

Gyorgy Gaspar studied at the Hungarian University of Craft & Design, Budapest from 1998–2003 and taught in the glass department at Moholy-Nagy University of Art & Design, Budapest, from 2006-2012.

“The main element of my ars poetica is a kind of philosophical deconstruction. Under this philosophy I brake down forms and spaces and build them up again under different systems in a new interpretation. I always create very strict geometrical forms, but the final object gets an organic feel thanks to the making proces. Glass is a very shiny and beautiful material so I try to discover its strict and ‘necessary’ side in my sculptures. In my recent work, I used opal glass which is really difficult to cast and grind but very expressive. My work is always striving to expand a popular topic (B category movies, UFO stories, Science Fiction, and now the Nuclear issues…) but in an abstract ‘geometrical enigma’ way. That’s why I call my own work style GEO-POP”.

Selected Awards:IV. International Triennal of Silicate Arts, Special Award, Kecskemet, Hungary, 2014International Glass Exhibition Kanazawa, Tokyo, Japan, selected, 2013

Public Collections Include:Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY, USAFoundation for Contemporary Ceramic Arts, Kecskemet, HungaryMudac Museum, Lousanne, SwitzerlandSir Elton John Art Collection, UKKOGART, Budapest, HungaryHungarian Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, Hungary

Gap, Gyorgy Gaspar, 2015, cut and fused polished glass, 22 x 20 x 15 cms

Laszlo Hefter studied at the Hungarian University of Craft & Design, Budapest from 1970-1975.

“I work like a painter but in more dimensions, I make kinetic pictures that change in light, according to times of the day and year, by the minute, by the moment, they change in both reality and imagination. I am interested in the relation of colours and lights as they meet and influence each other, in contrasts, dualities, ambiguities, filling spaces and they escape from forms and planes. One must rise above the principles of painting, set aside and rethink even the ideas that were reckoned to be the best. We should stay free towards ourselves to receive the desired light. We must learn the fundamental principles and tricks of old masters and analyse them. In our new works we should, however, learn from experience and intuition and believe in our own creative power. We should always be generous in imparting our knowledge, taking into consideration that there are also successors.”

Selected Awards:Szent Laszlo Prize, 2011Grand prize of Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary, 2004For the Art of Gyor, Hungary, 2000For the Culture of Gyor, Hungary, 1998

Public Collections Include:Laczko Dezso, Museum, Veszprem, Hungary City Art Museum, Gyor, Hungary Xantus Janos Museum, Gyor, Hungary

LASZLO HEFTER b. 1943

Labyrinth, Laszlo Hefter, 2012, coloured, stained glass, 67 x 46 cms

ZSUZSANNA KORODI b. 1984

Zsuzsanna Korodi studied at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin in 2009 and then completed her Masters at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest, Hungary from 2005-2010.

“I always think in layers. The layers induce parallel and perpendicular images, which move in both space and time, and are characterized by a repeating rhythm. In my sculptures and images, the visual image, movement, or geometry of light is always created between two layers at a given distance from each other. I incorporate handcraft, as well as industrial and digital technologies in my work. I combine these to evoke the delicate contrasts that help me expose a given problem. I am mostly interested in monochromatic plane-forms and, lately, in color transitions.”

Selected Awards:Diploma, Rectors Prize, 2010Erasmus Scholarship, National College of Art and Design Dublin, 2009

Public Collections Include:Hefter Glass Gallery, Pannonhalma, Hungary

Harey 1, Zsuzsanna Korodi, 2014, laminated, polished glass with digital print, 50 x 50 cms

MARIA LUGOSSY 1950-2012

Maria Lugossy studied goldsmithing at the Hungarian Academy of Craft and Design, graduating in 1973 before embarking on Postgraduate studies at the Academy from 1973-1975.

“Bygone ages are present in our dreams crystalline phenomena; throbbing lava flows, breathing cells, fluids gushing forth, metals clinking coldly, system-building reason, shrieking soul -shivering. Man yarning for the warm Mother Earth - dependent upon its Creator, a special mutation, carrier of the divine, maker and squandered, saint and criminal.”

Selected Awards:XXIII. FIDEM, British Museum, London, UK, Grand Prize, 1992The Suntory Prize ’90, Grand Prize, Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan, 19901st Internaitonal Glass Biennale, Musee Leger, Biot, France, Grand Prize, 1990

Public Collections Include:Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y. USABritish Museum, London, UKKunstmuseum Düsseldorf, GermanyHungarian National Gallery, Budapest, HungaryMusee des Arts Decoratfs, Lausanne, SwitzerlandMusee du Louvre, Paris, FranceMuseum of Art, Toyamura, Japan

Lilit, Maria Lugossy, 2008, layered sandblasted and polished glass with bronze, 45 x 34 x 14 cms

LASZLO LUKACSI b. 1961

Laszlo Lukacsi was born in Budapest, Hungary and graduated from the Hungarian Academy of Applied Arts in 1985.

“Graceful petals and leaves, mysterious twisting of a pine cone, the roundness of pebbles cuddling into the palm or the magic metamorphoses of a water droplet are all elements of a perfect system.”

Selected Awards:First Place of Taos Institute of Glass Art, New Mexico, USA, 2014Visitors Award of COBURG International Glass Exhibition, Germany, 2014Special Award of COBURG International Glass Exhibition, Germany, 2014Gold prize at the International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa, Japan, 2010

Public Collections Include:Museum of Contemporary Glass, Coburg, GermanyVictoria & Albert Museum, London, UKTutsek Foundation, Munich, GermanyErnsting Stiftung Glass Museum, Herding, GermanyBakony Museum, Veszprem, HungaryMuseum of Applied Arts, Budapest, HungaryGlass Museum, Frauenau, GermanyMichigan Life Insurance, Michigan, USAPEPSI- Challenge Cup, USA

Jewel Fan, Laszlo Lukacsi, 2014, layered sheet glass and mirrors, 13 x 25 cms

MIHALY MELCHER b. 1953

Mihaly Melcher studied at the Hungarian Academy of Craft and Design and graduated in 1986.

“With my works, I search for hidden forces and try to translate it to the visual language using sculptural means. I use coloured and colourless glass that I cast, refine here and there, and if necessary polish.”

Selected Awards:Council of Pesterzsebet Award, 2013Ferenczy Noemi Award, 2012SZOT Award, 1987

Public Collections Include: Hungarian Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, HungaryEl Museo de Arte enVidrio, SpainGlasmuseum Ebeltof, GermanyErsting Stiftung Glasmuseum of Coesfeld, GermanyGlasmuseum Lauscha, GermanyGlasmuseum Ebeltoft, DenmarkCorning Museum of Glass, USA

Earth and Sky, Mihaly Melcher, 2015, kiln cast polished glass, 30 x 14 x 9.5 cms

BALAZS SIPOS b. 1979

Balazs Sipos studied glass design at Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design, Budapest, Hungary from 1998-2003.

“The figure is my conduit for expressing thoughts, feelings, desires and so on. My figurative sculptures express honest emotions in a simple yet expressive way without flamboyancy. The themes of my objects are based on the problems and the arising internal struggles. The humor and the grotesque are the means by which I express myself in an indirect way. The transparent nature of glass provides a new perspective and allows the viewer to observe hidden relationships. Through the manipulation of the glass surface we are able to peak inside and inspect the inner side of the object. The negative forms inside the object turn into positives ones. The glass links and also separates the actual positive shape and the inner material. In my objects I open up a connection in which this relationship forms a unity. The external and internal forms interact with each other, complement and interpret their own status. The rustic nature of the raw material and the casting technique provides the character of the object. I use polishing to uncover the internal forms without changing the shape of the object.”

Selected Awards:Kozma Lajos Scholarship, Hungary, 2007-2009Erasmus Scholarship, Dublin, National College of Art and Design, 2002

Public Collections Include:International Glass Collection Bardudvarnok, (Maria Goszthony Fundation)Rippl-Ronai Museum, Kaposvar, Hungary

Woman with Apple, Balazs Sipos, 2014, kiln cast and acid etched polished glass, 55 x 22 x 15cms

AGNES SMETANA b. 1963

Agnes Smetana studied porcelain and glass at the Hungarian Academy of Craft and Design from 1980-1985.

Agnes designs and executes ornamental glass and sculptural vessels which are influenced by Art Nouveau. Her studio glass is inspired by nature and displays subtle stylisation and extremely sensitive colouring.

Selected Awards:Ferenczy Noemi Award, 1996Moholy-Nagy Laszlo Fellowship, 1990II. Pest County Salon, Grand Prize, 1990

Public Collections Include: Bakony Museum, Veszprem, HungaryGlass Museum, Frauneau, GermanyHungarian Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, HungaryInternational Glass Collection, Bardudvarnok, HungaryJanus Pannonius Museum, Pecs, Hungary

Grove, Agnes Smetana, 2013, multilayered blown vase with hot applied decoration, 14 x 10 cms

MARGIT TOTH b. 1963

Margit Toth studied at the the Hungarian Academy of Craft and Design, graduating in 1986.

Margit uses mould melted techniques to create her works. Her figures from the animal kingdom have human features and combined with the constructed classical statues, her work often resembles fossils from a familiar but not exactly identifiable mythology.

Selected Awards:Gorka Geza Award, 1986Kozma Lajos Award, 1993International Glass Invitational Award Habatat Gallery USA, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012

Public Collections Include: Corning Museum of Glass, USAMuseum of Applied Arts Hamburg, GermanyGlass Museum, Lauscha, GermanyGlass Museum, Werheim, GermanyAlfred Berkowitz Museum, USAMuseum of Art and Design, USA

Out of Place, Margit Toth, 2015, kiln cast polished glass, 35 x 23 x 17 cms

DORA VARGA b. 1984

Dora Varga studied at the Institute of Applied Arts, University of West Hungary from 2005-2006. She then studied glass design from 2006-2011 at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest, Hungary.

“The relationship of the “image” and the form interests me. Lately I have beenabsorbed in the theory of colours. I am curious about the three-dimensionaleffect of colours and the association of the synergistic or antagonistic movement of the forms. The use of coloured glass rods creates interestingeffects and inner space in my sculptures.”

Selected Awards:4th International Triennal of Silicate Arts Kecskemet, Hungary - Honorable Mention, 2014Kozma Lajos Scholarship, 2014Kozma Lajos Scholarship, 2013Stanislav Libensky Award 2011 – 3rd, Prague, 2011Warm Glass Prize, Students Category - 1st, Bristol, 2011Sanssouci Junior Glass Match – 2nd, Karlovy Vary, 2009

Avatar, Dora Varga, 2015, pâte de verre, kiln cast polished glass, 28 x 17.5 cms

ZSUZSA VIDA b. 1944

Zsuzsa Vida studied glass painting from 1964-1969 at the Academy of Applied Arts, Prague, Czechoslovakia followed by a Diploma in Glass deign in 1969. Vida was then Professor and then subsequently Head of Department at the Secondary School of Fine and Applied Arts, Budapest, Hungary.

Zsuzsa Vida’s colourful blown and twisted glass sculptures are light and ethereal, while her cut pieces are block-like, heavy, and closed compositions. The lyrical abstraction and cubist formal elements and stylistic features based on colour symbolism determine the break lines, and the optical interpenetrations of her later spatial forms.

Selected Awards:Noemi Ferenczy Prize, 2000Society of Hungarian Artists, Artists Grand Prize, 2002

Public Collections Include: The Corning Museum of Glass, New York Umeleckoprumyslove Museum, Praha Mestske Muzeum SKLA, Novy BorMuzeum SKLA, LemperkFundacio Centre del Vidre de Barcelona, BarcelonaGuardan Europes A. Zone Industriel le Wolser, Luxemburg

Inner Approach I, Zsuzsa Vida, 2011, slumped, cut, polished and sandblasted glass, 15 x 15 x 5cmsInner Approach II, Zsuzsa Vida, 2011, slumped, cut, polished and sandblasted glass, 25 x 15 x 5cms

HAJNALKA VIRAG b. 1985

Hajnalka Virag studied glass design at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest, Hungary from 2006-2011 and also studied at the Danish Design School, Copenhagen in 2010.

“I love the pixel world of retro computer games, I love flying and my dream is to travel to space. Beside all of this, my big love is glass!”

Selected Awards:Lajos Kozma Scholarship, 2013Erasmus Scholarship, 2010

Error Mode 01 and 02, Hajnalka Virag, kiln cast, acid etched and polished glass, 2015, 32 x 16 x 16 cms