From mid-July till the end of summer, all the halls of Mũcsarnok will be devoted to an impressive, comprehensive selection of Gyula Pauer’s oeuvre, an event that promises to be a highlight of the season.
Many of the often puzzling works have already been exhibited throughout the world, from New York to Sydney.
Pauer is a special, very significant figure of Hungarian art.
His work as a sculptor, performance artist, set, custom and visual designer is important even by international standards, and many of his public statues mark new departures in monument sculpture.
His best known sculptures are 1956 Volley Memorial (Mosonmagyaróvár), Monument of the 1848 Revolution and War of Independence (Budapest, 18th District), Seoul Torso (Olympic Park, Seoul), Chess Olympics Monument (Paks), Monument of Hungarian Deportees in Ebensee, WWII Hungarian Soldier Memorial (Mosonmagyaróvár), Shoes on the Bank of the Danube – Holocaust Memorial (Budapest), The Shroud of Turin (Vatican), Maya, Miss Hungary 1985.
Perhaps the most enduring achievement of the 63-year-old sculptor-academician is his peculiar “pseudo art.” During the previous regime, several of his works invited massive interest, scandals or the arrogance of the powers that be, often leading to the destruction of the works themselves. This became the fate of the Villány Pseudo Relief, The Famous Pseudo Tree of Nagyatád and the 131 oak boards of the Protest Sign Forest in Nagyatád. These works now exist only in the form of documentation and reconstructions made for the exhibition.
He designed scenery and costumes for some of the most exciting productions in the history of Hungarian theatre, those directed in the 1970’s by Gábor Zsámbéki, Tamás Ascher and Péter Gothár at the Kaposvár theatre, which would attract audiences from all over the country. He went on to contribute to the later, highly artistic productions of these directors in Budapest venues, the National Theatre and Katona József Theatre.
His visual designs for films earned several critics’ awards, as in Géza Bereményi’s Cesar-winner Eldorádó and his Hídember (The Bridge Man), Béla Tarr’s ?szi almanach (Autumn Almanac), Kárhozat (Damnation) and the world famous Sátántangó (Satan’s Tango). He contributed to such popular successes as Frigyes Gödrös’s Glamour, Róbert Koltai’s Sose halunk meg (We’ll Never Die), György Fehér’s Szenvedély (Passion) and others.
The exhibition in Mũcsarnok aims to be a memorable overview of this peculiar and unique career, where Pauer will employ varied media, special events and important performing artists to provide a non-stop programme in film and theatre.
Creator of often puzzling and humorous works, Pauer will keep his audience in constant amazement with the illusionary elements he introduces.