Transylvanian in Budapest: Even Tamás Todor's bold strokes have difficulty being heard in Hungary's capital
Walking into Tamás Todor’s apartment, I was struck by two things: his large German shepherd and then the art everywhere, of course. Tamás introduced me to his partner, sculptor Agnes Domokos, and we then went on to his studio, a double-ceiling white space filled with light and artistic energy. Canvases were lined against the walls, on the walls, and seemingly in between. Paint was everywhere, despite the obvious attempts at tarping. There was a table that seemed to serve as a large, makeshift palette. It was beautiful, almost a piece of art in and of itself, as if Tamás had been asked to “stage an artist’s studio that made anyone who enters feel like they were right in the middle of one of your works.”
I had specific pieces I wanted to see in person but had forgotten to bring the names. It didn’t matter, there was plenty here, and I quickly went about snapping some shots while engaging Tamás in a conversation about his life as an artist.
I had specific pieces I wanted to see in person but had forgotten to bring the names. It didn’t matter, there was plenty here, and I quickly went about snapping some shots while engaging Tamás in a conversation about his life as an artist.
Tamás came to Budapest during Covid from Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania — that storied locale and presumed birthplace of Dracula, Vlad the Impaler. The mood of his earlier works is palpably different, as he says, he used a lot of grays, creating a certain darkness, "a deep shadow atmosphere."
Once in Budapest, however, his approach shifted. His new surroundings inspired him to "be more colourful." However, the end goal remained the same.
I achieved the same dark mood but with colors.
An early piece of his, "Mozart Mood," offers up a glimpse of this. But in his later pieces, such intricate brushstrokes become visibly bolder and his use of color more dramatic. There is a certain chaos to his creations, perhaps best represented by his hectic worktable.
Todor seems to have found his full voice as the pandemic ebbed in 2021, as seen in his Horsemen — or was this simply a vivid representation of the death, and chaos, that Covid had left in its wake?
It was his dragon piece that really caught my eye, hanging almost as to be unnoticed in a side hallway. Here, his portfolio statement stands out in which he explains his works as being about the relationship between human existence and “all the different natures that surround it...
flora and fauna evoking the magical, often surreal particularities” and our existence as human beings, “conscious beings” who render “immaterial forms into creative actions.”
The detailed elements of the work are juxtaposed to the abstract slashes of paint in a whirl of color and life encompassing the ominous dragon's head. Much of his previous darkness is seemingly absent. However, the next work thrusts you straight back into that realm. The use of light here is almost blinding, and yet, you are met with the face of a skull. its flesh still somewhat intact, albeit being grotesquely stretched and almost melting away from a figure who seems to desperately cling to life. Todor captures morbidity by way of color brilliantly here. It is also a self-portrait. |
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Comparing this to his previous "Inner Self-Portrait," his evolution as an artist is shocking. His angst is palpable, as is his desire to be seen. Todor touches upon this during my visit, telling me, "It is incredibly difficult for a new artist to be noticed here in Budapest." His 2015 work betrays the sense that Todor felt lost and alone. His 2021 piece, on the other hand, screams that he is ready to be heard. |
Of course, nothing is louder than a take on Velázquez. Especially when it is of a pope. Todor’s work is far less dramatic than that of Francis Bacon’s Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X but has perhaps a more pointed message.
Here, too, death is present — the death of belief, an ideology, a system man had had faith in, only to watch it melt away- by both its own and mankind’s follies...
If Velázquez’s portrait is said to be overtly transparent in its lack of flattery, then Todor’s takes reality up a notch. The power and prestige, of Innocent X, along with his more questionable reputation, are betrayed in the 17th century master’s piece by the overwhelming presence of red. The pope was said to have been a fan, but you can’t help but see the luminous gleam of his red and white attire being drowned out by the far darker background, like a shadow being cast over him and his papacy.
Here, too, death is present — the death of belief, an ideology, a system man had had faith in, only to watch it melt away- by both its own and mankind’s follies...
If Velázquez’s portrait is said to be overtly transparent in its lack of flattery, then Todor’s takes reality up a notch. The power and prestige, of Innocent X, along with his more questionable reputation, are betrayed in the 17th century master’s piece by the overwhelming presence of red. The pope was said to have been a fan, but you can’t help but see the luminous gleam of his red and white attire being drowned out by the far darker background, like a shadow being cast over him and his papacy.
In Todor’s take, the regal reds are bleeding out. The pope looks as if he is melting from the inside. His face is still intent, albeit with eyes far less shrewd than Velázquez’s Innocent. His grandeur is drastically being eaten away, leaving only a muddied legacy. The red, still dominant, betray no sense of life at all.
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Spontaneity plays a huge role in Todor's creative process, mimicking the relationships we have with one another and that exist in nature all around us — a dynamic that none of us can escape, ever-changing and often unexpected, and forever on a collision course with death. As Tamás says, “Everything I have in life, I put into my paintings. All the beauty, the ugliness, distortion, grandeur, the hazard of living, power and vulnerability, serenity and unrest.”
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Education
2022: PHD in Painting at University of Arts and Design Cluj-Napoca
2011-2013: University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, master's degree, painting
2008-2011: University o fArts inCluj-Napoca, majoring in painting studyScolarship
2012: Erasmusexchange program, Academia di Belle Artie Restauro, San Martino delleScale, Palermo, Italy
2010: Erasmus exchange program, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca, Spain
Solo exhibitions
2023- OMEN, Art9 Gallery, Budapest
2018- "Sora", Quadro Gallery, Cluj-Napoca
2016- Solo Exhibition at the Start Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, London 2014 - "Backyard", QuadroGallery, Cluj-Napoca
2013 - Individual presentation - Matthias House Gallery, Cluj-Napoca
Group exhibitions
2023- 6.P-C, Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu, Romania
2022- Art Camp at Hegyvidék Gallery, Budapest
2021- Group Exhibition at EMUK (Transylvanian Art Center), Sepsiszentgyörgy, Romania
2020 - TRANSZ, Exhibition of the Szolnok Fine Arts Society, Szolnok 2019- Adam Kovács Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Cluj-Napoca
2019 -KMNShow, Artwise, H33 Square, Cluj-Napoca
2018- KMN, Artwise, Cluj-Napoca
2013 - Cutting Edge 2, Art Museum, Cluj-Napoca
2013 - Exhibition of Varsolc-Perecseny Art C a m p- Cluj-Napoca, Minerva Gallery and Târgu Mures, Primer Gallery, Zalau, Arts and Cultural Center
2013 - mySalon,Quadro Gallery, Cluj-Napoca
2012 - Group exhibition, Bulgakov, Târgu Mureș
2012 - At the top of the field, Quadro Gallery, Cluj-Napoca
2012 - 7 paintings in Cluj-Napoca - lasi, the Dana Gallery and the Quadro Galleryin Cluj-Napoca
2011- The Cutting Edge, Art Museum, Cluj-Napoca Art fairs
2016- START Art Fair, Quadro 21 Gallery, London
2015 - ARTI5 London,Quadro Gallery
2014- SCOPE Basel 2014, Quadro Gallery
2014 - ART14 London, Quadro Gallery
2011- ART MARKET Budapest, Quadro Gallery
2011- ARTEKNE Mostra Mercato Internazionale ArtiContemporanee, Matera, Italy
2022: PHD in Painting at University of Arts and Design Cluj-Napoca
2011-2013: University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, master's degree, painting
2008-2011: University o fArts inCluj-Napoca, majoring in painting studyScolarship
2012: Erasmusexchange program, Academia di Belle Artie Restauro, San Martino delleScale, Palermo, Italy
2010: Erasmus exchange program, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca, Spain
Solo exhibitions
2023- OMEN, Art9 Gallery, Budapest
2018- "Sora", Quadro Gallery, Cluj-Napoca
2016- Solo Exhibition at the Start Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, London 2014 - "Backyard", QuadroGallery, Cluj-Napoca
2013 - Individual presentation - Matthias House Gallery, Cluj-Napoca
Group exhibitions
2023- 6.P-C, Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu, Romania
2022- Art Camp at Hegyvidék Gallery, Budapest
2021- Group Exhibition at EMUK (Transylvanian Art Center), Sepsiszentgyörgy, Romania
2020 - TRANSZ, Exhibition of the Szolnok Fine Arts Society, Szolnok 2019- Adam Kovács Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Cluj-Napoca
2019 -KMNShow, Artwise, H33 Square, Cluj-Napoca
2018- KMN, Artwise, Cluj-Napoca
2013 - Cutting Edge 2, Art Museum, Cluj-Napoca
2013 - Exhibition of Varsolc-Perecseny Art C a m p- Cluj-Napoca, Minerva Gallery and Târgu Mures, Primer Gallery, Zalau, Arts and Cultural Center
2013 - mySalon,Quadro Gallery, Cluj-Napoca
2012 - Group exhibition, Bulgakov, Târgu Mureș
2012 - At the top of the field, Quadro Gallery, Cluj-Napoca
2012 - 7 paintings in Cluj-Napoca - lasi, the Dana Gallery and the Quadro Galleryin Cluj-Napoca
2011- The Cutting Edge, Art Museum, Cluj-Napoca Art fairs
2016- START Art Fair, Quadro 21 Gallery, London
2015 - ARTI5 London,Quadro Gallery
2014- SCOPE Basel 2014, Quadro Gallery
2014 - ART14 London, Quadro Gallery
2011- ART MARKET Budapest, Quadro Gallery
2011- ARTEKNE Mostra Mercato Internazionale ArtiContemporanee, Matera, Italy