Géza Perneczky by Chimera-Project

GĂ&#x2030;Z A PERNECZK Y Stamp Art and String Pictures

Chimera- Projec t Galler y

Chimera-Project Gallery Klauzál tér 5. H-1072 Budapest Patrick Urwyler Director & Owner +36 30 768 29 47 patrick@chimera-project.com www.chimera-project.com

CONTENT Introduction

Article

Works

Curriculum Vitae

Chimera-Project 34

INTRODUCTION

Marx Test, 1983 (see page 16)

GÉZA PERNECZKY Ab out t he ar t is t

Géza Perneczky is a fine artist, art historian and writer. As since 1970 he lives and works in Cologne, he was an important mediator between the Hungarian/Eastern European and the international art scene. Perneczky is a protagonist of the Hungarian conceptual art, his early conceptual works and also his publications had a catalyst role on the Hungarian neo-avantgard tendencies. On the international scene he became known as one of the founder of the post-fluxus Mail Art movement, which also defined the character of his conceptual works (Stamp art, Artist books) and his later paintings (String pictures). Géza Perneczky’s works can be found in the collection of MOMA, New York, Getty Institute, Walker Art Center, Franklin Furnace Archive, Ludwig Museum, Hungarian National Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts Budapest, National Gallery Prague, etc. Géza Perneczky had several exhibitions internationally in the Stedelijk Museum, Wiener Sezession, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Kölner Kunsthalle, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Olmütz Museum of Art, In-Out Center and Stempelplaast in Amsterdam, and in Hungarian Institutions as well, like Vasarely Museum in Budapest, Ludwig Museum, King St. Stephen Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest Gallery. In 2006 he received the Great State Award (Széchenyi Price), which is a prize given by the Hungarian State in recognition of those who have made an outstanding contribution to academic life in Hungary.

A RTICLE

A R T I ST STA MP S by G éz a P er ne c z k y

„In 1973 I started to experiment with the artistic use of rubber stamping also known from office work under the influence of my Czech friend, Jiri H. Kocman. In the ‘70s rubber stamp art became an important medium for me.

At that time this technique was discovered by the most diverse alternative trends such as Mail Art, but

the works made by them kept their palm size, their miniature format appropriate for rubber stamps. As

for me, at the beginning of the ‘80s I started thinking about using this popular technique in ‘grande art’ and expand it to a ’monumental’ genre.

Now that the artists’ stamp nevertheless finds its way into the museum – and into one, moreover, that stores the canvases of Rembrandt, Greco and the masters of Italian renaissance and French

impressionism -, has the time now arrived to “discover” the artists’ stamp and proclaim it as a new, classic art-form.

The first artists’ stamps were designed by the neo-dadaist FLUXUS-artists. They too were the first

to try to fool the post services with their stamps. Since then, the art-form has become slightly more

subdued, but above all, it has swollen up into a far wider stream. Owing to the fact that the FLUXUSartists have left the scene, today’s artists’ stamps are produced by the representatives of the so

called Mail Art movement. Many members of this movement design stamps made and reproduced

by various techniques; even larger is the number of those, who receive these stamps with other Mail Art-creations – tiny prints, collages, etc.- through the post, and sort them, classify them, put them

into boxes, carefully file them, in other words – collect them. As we can see, the artists’ stamp is not identical with Mail Art as an art-form in general, as it is a more confined genre with origins that date

back to a much earlier point in time. Nevertheless, it is a fact that today, artists’ stamps are produced and circulated almost exclusively in Mail Art-circles…

What is true for Mail Art in general is equally true in the case of the stamps produced in the world

of Mail Art, – these stamps carry within them a particular concept of democratism. “Everyone’s an artist” – said Joseph Beuys, the widely acknowledged prophet of alternative movements. Mail Art

participates with a slightly cooler enthusiasm in adorations of this kind, but this Beuys citation could be placed as a motto above every single present-day artists’ stamp…

The other point of the program – and there are many Mail Artists who would rank this one as the first: is communication…The Mail Art stamps on the other hand “struggle” and “portray”, with a naive

belief or an ironic smile, but usually with the hope that the message will reach its destination, that communication will be successful because it is possible.”

Original text Géza Perneczky, Pictures from the Poll, Köln, 2011; and Géza Perneczky, Artist’s Stamps, Exhibition Catalogue, Museum of Fine Arts, May 29 – Sep 25, 1987; ed. Bogi Mittich

W ORKS / STAMP A RT

S TA M P I N TE R N AT ION A L SECRET 1980

The white stamps on white paper have an

ironic, playful effect, as they are nearly invisible, therefore the word „secret”. The word „secret” in 8 different languages (Hungarian, English, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew,

Chinese) became hidden not only by the invis-

ibility of the paint but also of the unspoken languages. „I had ordered rubber stamps for the

word ‘secret’ in eight languages, and I printed ‘invisible’ stamps with white acryl paint on

white paper (one word per page). I published it

in the form of a booklet and I sent a copy to the heads of state of countries where one of the

eight languages are spoken. This action was a sort of performance. Two of them thanked for

the booklet, the king of Spain and the American president (Ronald Reagen).”

Original text Géza Perneczky, Selected concepts, rubber

Stamp International (SECRET), 1980 (Backside, Geheimnis)

stamp projects in form of artists book and other publications,

8 white on white stamped postcards (two-sided) in envelop

1970-84, Soft Geometry, Köln, 2003; ed. by Bogi Mittich

Edition of 100, Signed & dated

Stamp International (SECRET), 1980 (Overview) 8 white on white stamped postcards (two-sided) in envelop Edition of 100, Signed & dated

W ORKS / STAMP A RT

I S O L AT E D 1982

The Stamp work Isolation reflects of a feeling

of contemporary loneliness: being alone among masses. Géza Perneczky refers to the Isolation as characteristic life-experience of artists: due to demographic explosion and also due to the increasing number of persons participating in

the cultural production (called by the artist „the cultural mutation)” there exist more and more

artist. The effect of this is a nivellation of artistic expression and also the quality of the art. The

artist as the text in this work, gets isolated and slowly swallowed.

Isolated, 1982 (Cover, Sheet No. 4/6/8) 8 stamped DIN A4 sheets incl. cover and text sheet Edition of 100, signed, unnumbered

Isolated, 1982 (Text Sheet, Sheet No. 1) 8 stamped DIN A4 sheets incl. cover and text sheet Edition of 100, signed, unnumbered

W ORKS / STAMP A RT

L I T T L E O B JE C T S 1973

“Stamping with little objects finded on the oc-

casion of a promenade on the bank of Rhein in Köln 12. Sept. 1973.”

Little Objects, 1973 (Cover) 8 stamped DIN A4 sheets, incl. cover and text sheet signed

Little Objects, 1973 (Comb, Ice Spoon) 8 stamped DIN A4 sheets, incl. cover and text sheet signed

W ORKS / STAMP A RT

T R A N SC E N D E N TA L MAIL ART 1988

Transcendental Mail Art, 1988 (Text Sheet) 13 DIN A4 original graphics (mixed technique) Assembled in a box, Edition of 200, Signed and numbered

Transcendental Mail Art, 1988 (Sheet No. 5,6,9,13) 13 DIN A4 original graphics (mixed technique) Assembled in a box, Edition of 200, Signed and numbered

W ORKS / STAMP A RT

M A R X T ES T 1983

„In March 1983 – on the occasion of the

As I wanted to import a more elegant and

exhibitions have been arranged by the Arn-

founded „Marxist cells” by means of stitched

hundredth anniversary of Marx’ death – two hem Municipal Museum, within the museum a documentary retrospect on the historical

person of Marx and a Mail Art show entitled „Marx now”…

As I got invited to participate in the „Marx-now” exhibition it came to my mind that a Hungarian artist – Gyula Pauer – had already solved this tasks about 10 years ago…The „Freie Welt”

published an article about an immense monumental portrait of Marx…But the lineaments of this Marx reminded Pauer of the typical

efficacious form to the action, I immediately papers with stamps. A „secretary” and ten

„members” formed such a cell, which had the exterior appearance of a little numbered book

made of cardboard resembling a passport. 500 of these books in sheets were produced and most of them were sent by post all over the

world. They were not only accepted with no-

ticeable pleasure, but there were also people, who returned seperate stamps or the whole book, after having revised it...

features of current presentations of Lenin. He

Since May or June 1983 the returns became

a pair of scissors to cover Marx’ shaggy beard

the returned stamps in a hall of the art-studio-

only needed a stencil which he had carved with and he got a likeness of Lenin…

I was struck by the thought of generalizing

the „Marx-cliché” in a way, so that it would

become more accesible to interested people of

a daily events. I put together an exhibition of

building „Poller Kirchweg” in Cologne. I made 20 colour-copies about this selected material and placed they in 20 corpulent portfolios.”

the Western Hemispere. The stamps – with the blank face of Marx longing for complement – seemed to be an adequate solution...

Original text Géza Perneczky, Mail Art Project, Marx Test, 1983, Soft Geometry, Cologne, 2010; ed. by Bogi Mittich

Marx Test (Booklet), 1983 DIN A6 booklet with stamped pages Edition of 500, Signed, dated, numbered

Marx Test - Documentation, 1983 66 color reproductions / 12 copied letters Assembled in box, Edition of 20

W ORKS / STAMP A RT

T H E S E C R E T L IF E OF T H E C O L O G N E C AT H E D R A L 1984

The Secret Life of the Cologne Cathedral, 1984 (Cover) Set of 8 stamped DIN A4 sheets incl. cover Edition of 200, Signed & dated

The Secret Life of the Cologne Cathedral, 1984 (Sheets) Set of 8 stamped DIN A4 sheets incl.cover Edition of 200, Signed & dated

W ORKS / STRING P ICTUR ES

S T R I N G PI C T U R E S 1984–86

„The works created in the studio in Poll were

Poll studio and the pieces of minimal music

ble for printing ornamental patterns of optional

had some visitors who said my string pictures

mainly made with rubber rollers that are suita-

length. Similar tools are used by decorators or

workshops producing colour textiles… I bought some such paint rollers, and since the patterns of these rubber rollers were carved by hand, it seemed possible to order several pieces ac-

cording to my design from craftsmen in Buda-

pest. I needed quite simple geometric patterns as well as one roller with a powerful, almost

unforgettable repeated motif. I realised that one octave from the keyboard of a piano can go

onto the surface of a roller and it became my

leitmotif. I was able to use the studio and the rubber rollers in it for three years…

becoming popular in the 1980s. In fact I have

reminded them of György Ligeti’s ‘Continuum’ or of the micro-structure of ‘acoustic carpets’

often heard in modern music. Probably, it is not only for the repeated keyboard motif on them that these paintings have music associations for an observer but they also make you feel

that they were born in a decade when the for-

mat and genre of closed panels definitely broke up and disintegrated into the most diverse

components experimenting with space and

time. The dimension of music, time seems to belong to these components as well.”

Since the pattern created with the help of

rubber stamp rollers is in fact a onedimension graphic work, that is, the dominant feature of

the works printed with the rollers is their length, which can theoretically be infinite, I soon real-

ised that the most natural format of the pictures made with this technique is the string. I wanted these paintings to be as long as possible… It is possible to find a relationship between

the one-dimension string pictures made in my

A string picture of 5 metres on the exhibition at the Budapest Gallery (Sector Lajos utca) in 1987.

Red-Gold Density (C-083), 1985 (detail) Acrylic on Canvas 86Ă&#x2014;1000 cm

W ORKS / STRING P ICTUR ES

With a “C” (C-085), 1985 (detail) Acrylic on Canvas 77×1000 cm

WORKS / WOOD P ICTUR ES

W O O D PI C T U R E S 1985–86

„The works created in the studio in Poll were

mainly made with rubber rollers that are suita-

ble for printing ornamental patterns of optional length. Similar tools are used by decorators or workshops producing colour textiles…”

Original text Géza Perneczky, Pictures from the Poll, Köln, 2011; ed. by Bogi Mittich

Wood 060, 1986 Rubber Stamp on Wood 40Ă&#x2014;45 cm

WORKS / WOOD P ICTUR ES

Wood 054, 1986 Rubber Stamp on Wood 50×26,3 cm

Wood 093, 1986

Wood 087, 1986

Wood 083, 1986

Rubber Stamp on Wood

60×26,4 cm

675×405 mm

53,8×30,8 cm

C URRICULUM VITA E

GÉZA PERNECZKY *1936 in K es z t h e l y, H u n g a ry | l i v e s a n d w orks i n C ol ogne, Germany

STUDIES 1954 – 57 1957 – 62

Bartók Béla Music Art Academy Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Humanities, Budapest, HU

AWARDS & GRANTS 2006

Széchenyi-Prize, Hungarian State Prize, Budapest

WORKS IN COLLECTIONS MOMA, Museum of Modern Art, NY, USA Getty Institute, Los Angeles, USA Walker Art Center, Minnesota, USA Fine Art Museum, Budapest, HU Franklin Furnace Archive, NY, USA Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, HU King St. Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvár, HU Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, HU Museum of Art in Łódź, PL Museum of Modern Art in Niepołomice Muzeum umění Olomouc, CZ National Gallery, Prague, CZ The Sackner Archive of Visual and Concrete Poetry Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, DE Vasarely Museum, Budapest, HU Vintage Galéria, Budapest, HU

SOLO EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION) 2014 2012 1987 1986 1984 1982 1980 1977 1973

Tightrope Walk, with Adrián Kupcsik, Lőrinc Borsos, Chimera-Project Gallery, Budapest, HU Karton Gallery, Budapest, HU Budapest Gallery, Budapest, HU The story of the colourful ribbons. 25. Volume. ARTE VIDA (artist’s book) Liget Gallery, Budapest, HU De Media, Eeklo, Gent, BE Galerie St. Petri, Lund Museum of Concept Art, San Francisco, USA Verlag-G. Leaman, Düsseldorf, DE In Out-Center, Amsterdam, NL

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION) 2014 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2003 1987

LUDWIG 25. The Contemporary Collection, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, HU From Tizian to Warhol 1951-2011, Olomouc Museum of Art, Olmütz, CZ Chance as Strategy, Vasarely Museum, Budapest, HU Transparency – Looking Through, Vasarely Museum, Budapest ORNAMENT – SERIALITY. Historical and contemporary art, Vasarely Museum, Budapest, HU Olomouc Central European Forum III. Hungary | Hungarian Art from the Collections of the

Olomouc Museum of Art, Olmütz, CZ Fleuves, Gandy Gallery, Bratislava, SK Turning Pages. Modern Book Culture in the Collections of the Olomouc Museum of Art, Olmütz, CZ Ad Absurdum. Energies of the Absurd from Modernism till Today, Marta Herford, Herford Outrageous I. Neoavantgard tendencies in Hungarian Photography 1965-1984. Budapest Gallery, Budapest, HU Portable I2 Museum – Pop Art, Conceptual Art and Actionism in Hungary of the Sixties (1956-1976), Dorottya Gallery, Budapest, HU Distant Proximity. Hungarian post-war Art from the Collections of King St. Stephan Museum, Székesfehérvár, HU Olomouc Museum of Art, Olmütz, CZ Artstamps, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, HU Das andere Land, Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, DE Wer hat Angst vor Moholy-Nagy? Ungarische Künstler in Deutschland, IGNIS, Osteuropäisches Kulturzentrum, Cologne, DE In quotation marks, King Saint Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvár, HU

C URRICULUM VITA E

1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1980 1977 1974

Die 60er Jahre/The 60’s, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, DE

Modern graphics, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, HU Artist’s Book, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA Mail Art International. Wiener Sezession, Vienna, A In quotation marks, King Saint Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvár, HU Mail Art Then and Now, Franklin Furnace, NY, USA Mail (art) stamps & treated stamps, Musé Postal, Brussels, BE Kunstenaarsboeken = Artist’s Books : From the Other Books & So Archive Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam, NL Künstlerbücher, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, DE Artist’s Book, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík, ISL Niet-Stempels (~, Burg, Jong, Armleder, Gibbs, Sosno) Stempeelplaats, Amsterdam, NL Hungria 74 en el Cayc, Buenos Aires, ARG Ungarische Kunst ’74, Oldenburger Kunstverein, Oldenburg, DE

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AS ART CRITIC 1962 – 1965 1962 – 1968 1968 1970

Hungary Art Publishing House Art Critic at Magyar Nemzet Newspaper Art Critic at Élet és Irodalom Art Periodical Hungarian Television Fine Art & Artpedagogical Programs Deutsche Welle extern contributor Deutschlandfunk Radio extern contributor

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS Perneczky, Géza. Mail Art – Opposition or Place of Refuge? In: Mail Art Congress-Dokumentation. Schwerin, 1997. Perneczky, Géza. Es lebe die Kulturpfuschi! Die Mail Art Bewegung in Ungarn. In: Mail Art – Osteuropa im internationalen Netzwerk, Schwerin, 1996. s./p. 35–55 (de, en). Perneczky, Géza. The Network (monography), Cologne, 1993. Perneczky, Géza. The Magazine Network, Assembling Magazines 1969-2000, 1993. Perneczky, Géza. How to use this catalogue? (Introduction to the catalouge of the Network/Mail Art NY.). Perneczky, G. Network Atlas. Works and Publications by the People of the First Network. Volume 2: O-Z

Volume 1 – A – N. A Historical Atlas for the Post-Fluxus Movements as Mail Art, Visual Poetry, Copy Art, Stamp Art & Other Relative Trends with Addresses, Projects, Publications & Exhibition Events (Unedited manuscript for letter size). Update: April 2003. Perneczky, Géza. Network Atlas. Works and Publications by the People of the First Network. Perneczky, Géza. Artist Books in European View. Perneczky, Géza. Mail Art Project MARX-TEST 1983.

GALL ERY

C H I M E R A - P R OJ E C T Ab out Us

The Chimera-Project is a program gallery, established in 2013 in Budapest. Our gallery program is built on curated, thematic exhibitions to generate a meaningful discourse in contemporary art around relevant artistic and social topics. Through its founders, Chimera-Project has a strong international orientation: Patrick Urwyler is a Swiss art historian and curator and Bogi Mittich is a Hungarian sociologist. We worked in several art institutions in Berlin (Kunstraum Kreuzberg Bethanien), Budapest (Traf贸, Videospace, Studio Gallery for Young Artists Association) and Berne (University of the Arts, Department of Culture, Biennale Berne). Based on our background our goal is to support international exchange. Our annual program consists of two interrelated sections of exhibitions: one section we realize in our own gallery space, showing local and international positions and the other abroad through various projects. We built up an international exchange program, based on bilateral exhibition series, called Inter Art. We established an international award, the Chimera Art Award and this year we launch our international artist and curator residency program.

Patrick Urwyler

Bogi Mittich

Director & Owner

Gallery Manager

+36 30 768 29 47

+36 30 682 32 79

patrick@chimera-project.com

bogi@chimera-project.com

www.chimera-project.com