Magdalen Pierrakos' FEAR OF EMPTY SPACE: Non-emptiness leads to an illusion of non-emptiness. Objects, installation.

Istvan Szilasi:

1. "New York Marathon", 2001 (Leaf Runner) 25 min., DV-NTSC, 2001

Shot in the Central Park during the New York Marathon, the camera continues a nervous run on the silhouette of the trees. The screen is divided into two basic parts the trees and the sky meanwhile the sound of the marathon is audible as a soundtrack.

2. "Soda Breath", DV-NTSC, 10 min, 2002

Description: The artist is coping with reshaping soda bottles. His goal is to blow a sphere like shape out of the familiar shape of the soda bottles applying pressure and heat. The only result is that the bottles melt and shrink. On the video the process is reversed the artist starts with the melted material and end up "blowing" the shape of the coca-cola or seltzer bottles.

HOW TO LOCATE

DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED

Istvan Szilasi's studio located at:
702 E.5th st Ground Floor
New York NY

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Magdalen Pierrakos' work can be seen in Karen Finley's
book entitled AROUSED which was published by Avalon in November 2001.

Istvan Szilasi lives and works in New York City. He was born and educated in Hungary. A member of the well-known artists group "Ujlak" in Budapest, a collective that built installations, ran its own galleries and curated numerous exhibitions, during the 1990s. Currently, Szilasi‚s work includes sculpture, digital imaging, video animation, digital prints, and web-based works. He has exhibited widely in Europe.

The series Adult Blind (1999/2000) consists of interchangeable canvas panels that form a mosaic of paintings. All of the images in this series are appropriated from adult Internet sites. I alter these photographs by replacing the body from the digital image by means of computer editing techniques. Thus, I leave only the background of the photograph, which becomes the subject of these "paintings." These background images range from sumptuous interiors, to tacky hotel rooms, to rustic outdoor settings. The backgrounds remain as markers of a private space that is hyper-exposed through Internet circulation.

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2001

I Would Feel Sorry if you Thought that you Can't get Everything that you Deserve, FRAC, Caen, France (curated by Barnabas Bencsik)
Brewster Project, Brewster, NY (curated by Karen E. Jones)

2000

Media Model, Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary (curated by Miklos Peternak) idiopath/, Lazy J, Williamsburg, NY

1998

Try again later, Gasworks Gallery, London (curated by B. Bencsik, I.Petrina )

1997

Petit, Econome, Tonitruant, Gallery Triangle, Rennes (curated by Stephane Le Mercier) sic, Kiscelli Museum, Budapest, Hungary (curated by Andras Zwickl )

1995

Beyond Belief , Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (curated by Laura Hoptman)

1994

Ujlak Sport, Kunsthalle, Budapest

1993

Real Small (Little Things), Feszek Klub, Budapest, Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, Art in General, NYC and tour (curated by Laura Hoptman ) Ubergange (Passage), Museum Moderner Kunst, Passau, Germany (Curated by Hans Knoll) Fremd und Vertraut (Foriner and Reliable), Ujlak Group, Kulturfabrik Saltzman, Kassel, Germany Polyphonia, Soros Center for Contemporary Art, Budapest

ARTISTS STATEMENT

Istvan Szilasi

My current work is based on the reconfiguration of materials and images. In a sense my artworks can be described as direct visual puns. I alter objects and materials with an extreme sense of irony; choosing to address philosophical questions and cultural issues through employing succinct humorous gestures. Recently, my work focuses on the Internet by commenting on the type of images that circulate on the Web. Specifically, I’m interested in, who is addressed and how the subject is represented.

My sculptures enact visual stunts calling into question how objects are utilized within everyday life citing both the subtle marks that become embedded within objects and also the effect that objects have within space. I’m interested in the vocabulary of advertising and its ability to deliver the maximum of information in reductive, visual sound bytes. Equally, advertising relies upon sophisticated seductive appeal to capture viewer attention.

Overall, my work shifts the use value of commonplace objects and images, which are in a sense neutered through my subtle interventions. I invite the viewer to reflect upon these meticulously selected entities that are normally encountered within everyday life and by evacuating their functionality I invest these materials with a unique yet accessible sculptural presence.

ARTISTS WEBSITE

ISTVAN SZILASI