Péter SzalaySELECTED WORKS 2015 - 2008

Péter Szalay’s ironic objects built from found objects, mobiles, and installations make him one of the most promising representatives of the younger generation of Hungarian conceptualism. From kinetic statues and oil paintings to faux-porcelain plastic knick-knacks and animated plaster pictures, he works in countless mediums, while his individual sense of humor, unexpected associations, experimental tendencies, and critical attitude bring to fore a systematically constructed, singular life path.

Szalay is a polyphonic artist: his works encompass numerous themes, ranging from political gags to problems of abstract sculpture, from the visuality of academic categories to contemporary art historical reflections. What almost all his works have in common is that they take as their starting point found objects that are rather far from the usual ar t context (soap, a chest expander, a child’s daisy chain, a shoe box, a house plant, mechanical time piece, television antenna, a basketball net made of lace), which the artist discovers with almost childlike curiosity and appropriates for his own purposes. One of his most complex works, Residual Value (2014), is built from the debris of a recently renovated gallery space. Szalay arranges the rubble and pieces of plaster into a display, using mechanical structures to transform the bags of rubble into moving, living things, breathing life into materials that have died several times over and elevating the construction rubbish to precious art objects in a museum situation.

/Katalin Székely/

WAR AND PEACE found objects, iron, wood

25x25x55cm

works 2015

SNAKEtie,wire 25x25x55cm

works 2015

MOBIUStie,plastic25x25x55cm

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

„I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN” - Solo exhibition INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART –DUNAÚJVÁROS, 2014

Diogenes the antique philosopher used to run on the sunshiny streets with a lamp screeming „I am looking for a human!” The visitors of the exhibition at the Institue of Contemporary Art in Dunaújváros do not have an easy task to find a human, either. A number of signs refer to the nearness of the ones who assign a geometrical form to an ideology, or moralize with an imaginary tale creating a whole story from it – so of those whom the philosopher walked past with a steady face. But the only thing that can be stated about the man hiding in the world of mechanical flowers opening as ex-symbols and animal figures free from the ballast of edification, is that he has an excellent sense of humour.

/Tamás Fehérvári /

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

DIOGENES’S LAMP candle, binoculars 35x25x20

GOOD INTENT found object, iron, water, glass 35x15x10cm

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

PILLOW FIGHT pillow,feather,glue dimensions variable

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

MIGRATION 3 plastic, painted circket

60x43x7cm

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

MIGRATION 4 plastic, painted circket 60x43x7cm

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

BETTER FUTURE 1. paint, sickle, scythe, hammer,

axe 600x300cm

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

SPRINGTIME 3 ( kinetic sculpture) plastic, wood, aluminium, electric motor, etc. 40x40x40cm

Watch video on youtube

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

SPRINGTIME 4 ( kinetic sculpture) plastic, wood, aluminium, electric motor, etc.

40x40x40cm

Watch video on youtube

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

SPRINGTIME 5 ( kinetic sculpture) plastic, wood, aluminium, electric motor, etc. 40x40x40cm

Watch video on youtube

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

SPRINGTIME 6 ( kinetic sculpture) plastic, wood, aluminium, electric motor, etc.

40x40x40cm

Watch video on youtube

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

FLOWER 5. (scanimation picture) plastic, wood, C- print 90x60x16 cm

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

FLOWER 6 (scanimation picture) plastic, wood, C-print

90x60x16cm

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

THE COLOSSAL HUNGARIAN RAYiron, wood, plastic, cable, bulb, cowhide, pigskin, antler, saman drum dimensions variable

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

STUDENT (kinetic installation) coated steel, iron, plastic, electric motor, etc.

200x100x30cm

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

PROLIFERATION plastic, iron, paper, C- print 90x160x60cm

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

GOLDEN TEAM wood, filc, leatherette

75x120x50cm

Exhibition view – „I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN”, 2014

TV BEAR (kinetic installation) wood, iron, plastic, electric motor, etc. dimensions variable Watch video on youtube

Exhibition view – DOUBLE VISION, 2014

DOUBLE VISION – Solo exhibition acb Gallery - Budapest, 2014

A solo exhibition by Péter Szalay is presented at the acb Gallery for the second time. Double Vision can be regarded as a continuation of Szalay’s 2013 show entitled Residual Value. His work at the time reflected on the renovation of the gallery, turning the debris created during the construction process into artwork. The installations, the ironically stylized and polished small sculptures inspired by porcelain figurines featured at the present exhibition Double Vision hold a mirror to the new, “trendy and sterile” gallery space. Szalay approaches his subject with the usual varied use of media and characteristically biting humour. His grotesque creations not only bring into play the aesthetic quality of symmetry, but also criticize the “schizophrenic” state of Hungarian society, which has split in two of its own accord, and the country’s dysfunctional multi-party system. The exhibition is replete with the possibilities created by blurring the lines of ethnography, iconography and kitsch, guiding the viewer to the experience of indecision and a sense of it deepening into fate.

/Zsuzsanna Kozák/

Exhibition view – DOUBLE VISION, 2014

DOUBLE VISION 02 painted plastic sculptures two copies, rorschach test cards 27x21x10cm

DOUBLE VISION 03 painted plastic sculptures two copies, rorschach test cards 15x37x8cm

Exhibition view – DOUBLE VISION, 2014

DOUBLE VISION 04 painted plastic sculptures two copies, rorschach test cards

21,5x11,5x7cm

DOUBLE VISION 05 painted plastic sculptures two copies, rorschach test cards

13x13x5,5

Exhibition view – DOUBLE VISION, 2014

DOUBLE VISION 06 C-print, mixed media 198x125cm, 68x63x37cm

WORKS 2014

SLANG 07 bagel, grater

25x8x5cm Script on the grater is „FREE ARTISTS”, which is a group of artists in the Hungarian scene.

WORKS 2014

SLANG 06iron, zinc 43x53x32cm

Exhibition view - RESIDUAL VALUE, 2013

RESIDUAL VALUE – Solo exhibition acb attachment – Budapest, 2013

In the first exhibition held at acb attachment, Péter Szalay explores – and combines through recycling – tried and tested forms of preserving and presenting mementos and material remains. The representational techniques of institutions established with the aim of sustaining shared cultural memory and caring for its material remains, in turn, shape that memory. Péter Szalay, drawing on the techniques of presentation employed by museums of archaeology and ethnography, displays a fictitious set of architectural and material remains – construction debris left behind by the remodelling of acb Gallery – in an exhibition context. The building rubble created by torn down walls – building materials, architectural elements, discarded objects and their components – is exhibited as if it constituted a collection of related objects that surfaced during an archaeological excavation. Szalay arranges, groups and processes these elements, as a result of which these fictitious relics are placed on the walls, in the space, an in display cases, giving the impression of systematized orderliness and directed remembrance. /Orsolya Hegedüs/

Exhibition view - RESIDUAL VALUE, 2013

RESIDUAL VALUE 01 fresnel lens,magnifier,wood,reverberator,trivet,ground plan phototype,building rubble dimensions variable

Exhibition view - RESIDUAL VALUE, 2013

RESIDUAL VALUE 02 building rubble,parquet,electric

motor,iron,wood dimensions variable WATCH VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

Exhibition view - RESIDUAL VALUE, 2013

RESIDUAL VALUE 03 wood,woodboring beetles,microphones,amplifier,headset,photo,(showcase) 80x60x100cm WATCH VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

Exhibition view - RESIDUAL VALUE, 2013

RESIDUAL VALUE 04 electric motor,stucco remains,

(showcase) 90x70x50cm WATCH VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

Exhibition view - RESIDUAL VALUE, 2013

RESIDUAL VALUE 06 ground plan phototype,nail,screw,wall plug,building rubble,(frame) 90x75x10cm

RESIDUAL VALUE 05exhibition opening photos,ground plan phototype,light switch,(frame)80x70x10cm

Exhibition view - RESIDUAL VALUE, 2013

RESIDUAL VALUE 07 exhibition opening photos,building rubble,(frame)

8 pieces, ca. 30x25x5cm each

Exhibition view – TILL NOW EVERYTHING IS FINE, 2013

TILL NOW EVERYTHING IS FINE – Solo exhibition Art9 Gallery – Budapest, 2013

Péter Szalay in his solo-exhibition entitled Till Now Everything is Fine shows his most recent works. Seemingly these works appear in a fixed and peaceful position in the space, but actually they make various barely visible movements, showing up examples for foreseeable but not preventable processes. The exhibition focuses on this physical and psychical state before the moment of the bang, and analyses this sudden and unexpected moment by prolonging it. WATCH VIDEO ON ARTYCOK.TV

Exhibition view – TILL NOW EVERYTHING IS FINE, 2013

TABLE CLEANING clockworks,line,table,cover,cup,paint,

dimensions variable

Exhibition view – TILL NOW EVERYTHING IS FINE, 2013

DRAWING MACHINE clockworks,line,paper,garphite dimensions variable

WORKS 2013

SLANG 04 bronze, limited edition

12x8x1cm Script on the plaquette is „Hungarian Academy of Arts” which is an institute that defines national art in the Hungarian scene.

WORKS 2013

SLANG 03 steering wheels 200x100x40cm

WORKS 2013

SLANG 01 spoon,crowbar

60x15x3cm

WORKS 2013

HAT hat,saw, 60x30cm

WORKS 2013

SUCKER found object, leather coat

140x70x24cm

WORKS 2013

LESS found object, iron 15x3x3cm

DING AN SICH

copper

35x4x4cm

WORKS 2012

PATENT sickle, nightstick 60x52x3cm

WORKS 2012

JUNK-CLEARANCE found object, shutter, acrylic paint

113x90x18cm

WORKS 2012

DEAD OBJECTS 03 (changing of the guard) military boots, electric motor, aluminium, wood 50x50x50cm The boots are paddling impatiently waiting for the changing of the guard. WATCH VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

WORKS 2012

DEAD OBJECTS 02 (sleeping DADA) found object, shoe box, plastic plate, dice, electric motor, transformer, zinc sheet, copper, aluminium, iron, tape, wood, cardboard, cable

34x24x15cm My work is a shoe box with the legend „DADA”, which produces voice and movement (it is snoring. The voice of breathing-in is a closure generated safely set up

with a plastic plate used as membrane. By breathing-out, the lid of the box rises up, this movement is assured by a simple mechanic in the right time. By breathing-in, the standing of the dices alters because of the vibration, the new state comes into sight by breathing-out.

WATCH VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

WORKS 2012

DEAD OBJECTS 01 (echo) found object, concrete iron, electric motor, bearing, aluminium, wood 47x22x27cm My work consists of two parts, a concrete iron piece of the Bécsi street and an electric motor collared on the wall. The electric motor pushes away the piece of concrete iron leaned against the wall once each minute, than it is falling back because of its weight. The iron works as a spring, one can hear a more and more weakening splatter as it is rebounding several times on the wall. The object touches the wall of the exhibition space, in which it slowly erodes a hole. WATCH VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

WORKS 2012

GIFT FOR GRANDMA found object, glasses, glasses-case, dandelion

11,5x8x2,5cm

WORKS 2012

EXPANDER photo, tracing paper, wood, iron, rubber 40x10x5cm

WORKS 2012

SUDDENLY 02 creeper plant, electro-motor, line, plastic, tape

dimensions variableI mounted an asymmetric disc onto the axle of the electric engine installed on the ceiling. This disc is

responsible for animating the surrounding 12 plastic sheets. The plastic sheets and certain parts of the plant are connected with fishing-line.

WATCH VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

WORKS 2011

AUTOTROPHE found object, car tire, tape 70x34x24cm

WORKS 2011

PEDAGOGY found objects, carpet-beater, crucifix

70x22x7cm

WORKS 2011

SHARK found object, saw, line, reverberator70x110x30

WORKS 2011

STATIC TIME found object, clockwork, iron

34x30x15cm Mechanical clockwork standing on its hour, minute and second hands.

The clockwork turns around the axle of its hand.

WORKS 2011

MADE IN 3D-print (plastic) 70x55x50mm

WORKS 2010

JUST DO IT wood,plastic,aluminium,copper,iron,steel,cable,electric motor,transzformer,switch,bowden,kevlar line,C-print on canavas etc...

dimensions variable The installation has two parts, one located in the floor, and a printed canvas put on the wall. The machine make pushups, by a bowden cable

fixed on the motor placed behind the picture. In the picture there is Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of California. In situation of exhibition, the motion sencor built in the picture make working the motor, and the mashine start to move.

WATCH VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

WORKS 2010

GRAVITATIONAL POWER PLANT ( feasibility study 01. ) dimensions variable wood,iron,magnet 200x200x140cm Made up of four three-legged structures, the installation is held in stable position by gravity. They are interdependent, though there is no physical contact, thanks to the repulsive force of the magnets installed on them. The forces holding together the pairs of these structures are imperceptible to the naked eye. The members of Pair 1 are completely interdependent – removing one of the items will cause both of them to collapse while one of the members making up Pair 2 is stable and the other item is leaning against it, tilted beyond its point of equilibrium.

WORKS 2010

AUTOTROPH found object,soap,photo

7,3x5x1cm

WORKS 2010

ALTERNATE ENERGY SOURCE 02 icon, paper, bakelite, tin,cable, led, micro-swichgear 11x6x1cm

WORKS 2010

15 photo

WORKS 2010

UNINSTALL WINDOWS video 6min I took a photo made of a panel building and used it as a basis for my animation. One by one, I removed the windows of the building by retouching. On the resulting series of photos, the building slowly runs out of windows and then finally even the one opening on the view itself disappears. WATCH VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

WORKS 2009

MASK found object, stainless steel hubcap

55x42x25cm

WORKS 2009

MADE IN cardboard,wood,film 160x200x150cm

WORKS 2009

ALTERNATE ENERGY SOURCE icon, cable, pincer, copper, aluminium, rubber, plexi, convex lens, micro-swichgear, condenser, transformer, photoflash

150x154x25cm The installation consists of two parts: an energy source (icon) and a consumer (black box). The consumer latches on with suction-

cups and pincers to certain parts of the energy source. As far as the visitor follows the steps framed in the instructions, the consumer transforms the sacred energy stored in the energy source into a single beefy visual sign (flashlight).

WORKS 2009

TO EAT photo dimensions variable

WORKS 2008

LIBERO ARBITRIO wood,window,electric engine,solarcell,wire,paper,line,lightblub,porcelane,cable

120x120x50cm The intallation is made up of six parts that are hung from the ceiling in the exhibition room. The light of the blub on the bottom square make the solar cells in the opposite

upper square drive an eletric engine. The piece of paper joined to the wireon the electric engine imitates a moth circling a flame. My work is an open cube, the sides of which are old windows.

WATCH VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

CV Péter Szalay sculptor

Place and Date of Birth: Pécs, 28th September 1981 Web: szalaysculpt.blogspot.com E-mail: szalaysculpt@yahoo.com

EDUCATION 2002 – 2008 University of Pécs, Faculty of Arts, Department of Sculpture 1995 – 1999 Secondary School of Arts, Pécs- Faculty of Ceramics

SOLO EXHIBITION 2015 - Contemporaries: Collectors and artists, New Budapest Gallery, Budapest, 2014 - „I am looking for a human”, Institute of Contemporary Art, Dunaújváros

- Double vision, ACB Gallery, Budapest - Double Vision, Nádor Gallery, Pécs

2013 - Residual value, ACB Attachment, Budapest - Till Now Everything Is Ok, Art9 Gallery, Budapest

2012 - Autotroph, Miskolci Gallery, Miskolc - Presentation (one-night event), Pozsony, SK

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2014 - Antidesign, New Budapest Gallery, Bálna, Budapest

- Rearranged Reality, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest - Subjective Objects, Latarka Gallery, Budapest

2013 - Budapest Immersion, New Budapest Gallery, Bálna, Budapest - Bookmarks, B55 Gallery, Budapest - Home Sweet Home, Miskolci Gallery, Budapest - The Emperors New Apparel, Trafó Gallery, Budapest - Clear Head, MKE Fríz terem, Budapest

2012 - Gallery By Night, Studio Gallery, Budapest - Art Placc, Tihany - III. Moscov International Biennale For Young Art, Moscow, RU - Quadratic Equation, Kepes Institute, Eger - II. Biennale of Sculpture, Art Mill, Szentendre - The Patterns of Time, acb Gallery, Budapest

2011 - Gallery By Night, Párizs, FR - FIKA, Pécs - Gallery By Night, Studio Gallery, Budapest - Libero Arbitrio, Párizs, FR

2010 - Sculpture?! , Nádor Gallery, Pécs - Fresh, KOGART, Budapest - 21 Conversations, public art, Pécs - Mikser Festival, Belgrad, SRB - Small Objects, acb Gallery, Budapest - Exhibition of New Members, Studio Galéria, Budapest

- Trust (Sculptors from Pécs), Institute of Contemporary Art, Dunaújváros 2009 - FIKA, Zsolnay Factory, Pécs

- 20 Years of the Change of Regime (travelling exhibition) - Berlin, Paris, Vienna, DE, FR, AUT - Self-determination, Gallery of Szombathely, Szombathely

2008 - Exhibition of the Irokéz Collection, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest - XX. Natinal Biennale of Ceramics, Vasarely Museum, Pécs - Budapest Art Expo fresh, Art Mill, Szentendre

2007 - Sculptor Exposition, Expo Center, Pécs

ART FAIRS 2014 - ArtMarket, Budapest 2013 - Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam

- ArtMarket, Budapest 2012 - ArtMarket, Budapest 2011 - ArtMarket, Budapest

- ViennaFair, AUT

WORKS IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS - Ludwig Museum, Budapest - Institute of Contemporary Art, Dunaújváros - Irokéz Collection (Szombathely) - Space Gallery (Pozsony) SK - Atelierhouse (Miskolc)

MEMBERSHIPS IN ASSOCIATIONS 2010 – Studio of Young Artists Association

SCHOLARSHIPS, COLONY OF ARTISTS -2015 Derkovits Gyula Scholarship - 2014 National Cultural Fund - 2013 National Cultural Fund - 2012 Töreki Colony of Artists (Siófok) - 2011 Visegrad Artist Residency Program (Pozsony) SK - 2011 National Cultural Fund scholarship - 2011 NMA Napidíj - 2010 personal programme, Miskolc