Imre Tolnay: Gestures in space

Imre Tolnay's art is simultaneously abstract and figurative, transcendental and realistic, gestural and geometric. He is noted for his organic forms, rich symbolism as well as structures that achieve completion via their fragmentation. In his works, seemingly contradictory components merge into a harmonious whole, revealing the complexity and contradictions of the world.

His main theme, space, is inseparable from time’s ever-changing infinity — yet, in human terms, finitude — and the representation of classical elements as energies inherent in tangible materials as well as intangible components. His work seeks visual answers to existential questions, exhibiting forces hidden in the elements of nature and transcendent values at the same time. He composes his works by extracting certain fragments to be completed by the imagination constructed by the viewer.

Tolnay's current exhibition at Kunsthalle Budapest focuses mainly on his painting, completed by a video installation echoing the visual world of his works on canvas. Walking through the three rooms of the exhibition, which are thematically structured to build on each other, is like undergoing a rite of passage.

Curator: Réka Fazakas