From 2022 the House of Arts Veszprém has enriched its exhibition palette with applied art exhibitions. Within this glass is of particular importance due to the traditions of the region, which has been present in the Veszprém region for hundreds of years thanks to the glassworks in the Bakony and the Ajka Glass Factory.
The year 2023 is about both international relations and traditions, so we would like to celebrate the European Capital of Culture year with a special exhibition in Veszprém, where foreign and Hungarian glass artists will present their work together.
Most of the objects in the GLASS FOCUS exhibition came from Bornholm, Denmark. The town of Nexø on the Baltic island is home to the Design (Glass and Ceramics) Department of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Three of the exhibiting artists (George William Bell, Alexander Kirkeby, Balázs Telegdi) have completed their master's degrees here and have lived and worked here for several years. Bornholm is a centre for Arts and Crafts, also known as the Capri of the North, or even the Mallorca of the North, because of its unique beauty.
All of the exhibiting artists are experimental, exploring the new, but also building on the traditions of glass art.
George William Bell from California is the author of the Specimens of Abstraction, a series of paintings that is the result of a long-standing research into the interdependent relationship between pattern and form. His work invites the viewer to draw parallels between the artistic process and scientific research.
Danish glass artist Alexander Kirkeby has been awarded Creative of the Year 2022, the most prestigious award at the 3 Days of Design event in Denmark. Kirkeby's objects are captivating and and at the same time astonishing to the senses. His art is rooted in the traditions of glass art, but he transcends and overrides them to create something completely new and unique.
Gergely Pattantyús is a professor at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, one of the few people in Hungary who runs a hut and blows glass. He makes objects, both series and unique pieces in Révfülöp and also conducts research. His "hut-ready glassware", besides being functional, also inspires serious thought and carries the uniqueness of handmade objects.
Balázs Telegdi is a Lajos Kozma Scholarship glass artist and in 2021 he was awarded 1st place in the prestigious Stanislav Libensky Prize. His latest series, Wrapped Forms, is the result of a long research project based primarily on how different states of glass can be applied to an object. Throughout the creative process he questions the 'forbidden' or 'not recommended' technical aspects and by consciously using them he reaches a new level of creativity.
The more than 40 exceptional works will be on show for the first time in Hungary, and there will also be several works that were created in December 2022 and have never been shown in public before.
Exhibition opening: 19.01.2023 /Thursday/ 18.00
On view: 20.01.2023 – 16.04.2023
The exhibition is supported by the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture project.
