PERTU No.14 Gábor Gerhes – Martin Piaček

The Ernest Zmeták Gallery, Bjornsonova 1, Nové Zámky

Curator: Helena Markusková

The fourteenth edition of the long-term PERTU project follows its focus program, focused on the search for analogies in contemporary Slovak and Hungarian fine arts. It continues to explore random parallels in the creation of strong personalities, which are based on opinion, style, thematic or generational relatedness. It thus creates a unique communicative space for dialogue between two cultures and the discovery of new contexts. After pilot years looking for its face (1993, 1995) and a short break, Helena Markusková launched an analogy search program in 1999. In the following years, the project gradually crossed the Slovak and Hungarian scene. So far, László Fehér and Martin Knut (1999), Milan Bočkay and Gyula Pauer (2001), Július Koller and Sándor Pinczehelyi (2003), Ádám Kéri and Juraj Meliš (2005), Peter Bartoš and Tamás St.Auby (2007), Klára Bočkayová and Zsófia Pittmann (2009), Juraj Bartusz and István Nádler (2011), Károly Hopp-Halász and Peter Rónai (2013), Milan Dobeš and János Fajó (2015), Emese Benczúr and Emőke Vargová (2017), Endre Tót and Monogramista TD (2019) have met.

The current year's artists are Gábor Gerhes (1962) and Martin Piaček (1972). In an original way, they deal with the storehouse of art history, cross the boundaries of their own medium, and incorporate their private history into their works. The exhibition is conceived as a communicative game with elements of retrospective. Through corresponding themes, it will guide the period from the end of the nineties - to the present - emphasizing points of contact and differences. For example: self-definition of the artist, reflections on the heroes of the national pantheon, alternative interpretations of history, the absurdity of being in Central Europe, the form of transcultural dialogue.

Gábor Gerhes, working with multimedia, is dedicated to photography, objects and installations. He was shaped by an intense cultural life at the center of the alternative scene at the Fiatal Művészek Stúdiója in Budapest, in which he took an active part (1987-1998). He completed scholarship stays at home country (Eötvös Foundation scholarship, 1991, Derkovitsa scholarship, 1992-1995) and abroad (Residency Cité Internationale des Arts, Recollets, Paris, 2004-2005, KulturKontakt, Vienna, 2006). In his works, he aptly defined the entry of his own generation into the post-totalitarian era, the search for identity at the interface of past and present, the spread of nationalism, the paradoxes of opening up to the world and defining oneself towards others. He is known as the author of staged photographs balancing on the interface of fiction and reality, dealing with original visual speech with suggestive symbolism. He teaches photography at the Budapest Metropolitan University. He has participated in major international exhibitions (7 + 7, Sociedade National Bellas Artes, Lisbon, 3rd Prague Biennial, Prague, 1999, Art Future 2000, Taipei, 2000, The View from Here, Minneapolis, 2002, Welcome, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London , 2004, Zeitgenössischen Fotokunst, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, 2008, The New Arrivals, BOZART, Brusel, 2011, EMOP, Museé National de l´Historie et de l´Art, Luxembourg, 2015). He is the winner of the Munkácsy Prize (2005) and the AICA Prize (2014).

Versatile Martin Piaček (1972) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava (1994 - 2000), completed scholarship stays abroad (Akademia sztuk pieknych in Krakow, 1997, Gerrit Rietveld Academy, 1998). He prefers innovative positions of sculpture, deals with the process of myth-making, the topic of national identity and traumatic events in Slovak history, a common past in Central Europe. He reached for the strong stories of key figures in Slovak history - he explored various positions of their myth from canonization, through demystification to eroding. M.R. Štefánik became an iconic personality for him. His portrait in the general's uniform he interpreted in various ways. He currently works at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design at the Department of Intermedia, as the head of the Atelier vvv. He is a co-founder of the Public Pedestal initiative. He has exhibited at home and abroad (FI (IS) SH, Közelítés Gallery, Pécs, 2000, 22 minutes 50.28 seconds, CAISA Center, Helsinki, 2006, Galter „Parter“ Akadenia Sztuk Pieknych, Lodz, 2007, Editing Projects, Zerynthia, Rome , 2007, Public Dialog, Transart Communication, Komárno, 2010, 6. Nový Zlínsky salón, Zlín, 2010, Delete, SNG, Bratislava, 2012, Private Nationalism, Kunsthalle, Košice, 2014, The Power of the Powerless, KHB, Bratislava, 2019).