The Smallest Common Multiple

Szabolcs KissPál’s exhibition

Szabolcs KissPál’s solo exhibition is a mid-career survey, highlighting the main directions of his work to date, and bringing out those contents and possibilities that currently mark his art. With old works providing points of reference, the exhibit concentrates on new pieces because KissPál’s activity is currently undergoing a turn as he provides a wider context for the earlier researches. This turn is marked by a shift in subjects – from self-reflection and the study of the formal idiom of art, towards society, politics and history –, and a move from an interest in questions of perception apropos of media art, towards a critical analysis of perception through the media.

Among the works that serve as reference, we present the video Halfway to NW (2004), shown in Hungary for the first time, which makes a statement for the intermediary position of the artist, the possibility and necessity of passage between society and the world of art. The video Maya II and the installations Maya III and Draft in 1:1 scale are the logical extensions of earlier works that explore the dichotomy of vision and perception, the relationship of the individual and history.

Current events in the public space, public discourses/debates, divisions within society and the corrosion of ideals serve as the starting points of the new works. These installations, videos, and photos offer interpretations of the notion of public space, highlight the disparities between the ideal and the practice of parliamentary democracy, explore issues of (political) representation, and look into the opportunities and responsibilities of the individual within the frameworks/confines of law, politics and economy. Szabolcs KissPál’s exhibit encourages a reconsideration of the social role of the artist, and the relationship of aesthetics and politics.