Gábor Miklós Szőke
Gábor Miklós Szőke
2
Born in 1984, Budapest, Hungary Education: 2009 Milano, Accademia di belle Arti di Brera, sculpture 2004-2010 Budapest, Hungarian University of Fine Arts, sculpture 1999-2004 Budapest, Secondary School of Visual Arts, sculpture Gábor Miklós Szőke graduated in 2010 from the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. Despite his young age he is a prominent artist of the contemporary sculpture scene. He has already recieved numerous national and international recognition and in 2008 he was the winner of the ”Amadeus Creative Scholarship” in the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. He studied in Milan for half a year in the Accademia di belle Arti di Brera as a scholar. His teachers labelled him as an eccentric character, and everyone has an exciting story related to him. Some might respect him as a genius, or as a rock star and there are people who happen to fear him. One thing is for sure, that one way, or another everybody will be under his influence soon and this young artist will have major impacts on both the domestic and international art world. He took part in group and also in individual exhibitions since his university years. Contemporary private galleries organized exhibitions for him and his works were selected by private, state and social projects and institutions in Budapest, Vienna, Milan, Rome, Sicily and many cities and towns in Hungary. Clients: Market, T-Mobile, Hungarian National Gallop, ARC, NFÜ, Budapest Zoo, CET, Castle Helikon, Veszprém Zoo, Hello Wood, Jaf Holz, Kunsthalle Budapest, Salone Satellite Milan, BumBum, Tesco, Hometrend Budapest, Artfair Budapest, HG360, Design Terminel Budapest, Collegium Hungaricum Vienna, World Harmony Running, Sziget Festival, Code & Decode, Millenaris Park,...and his works can be found in many significant private collections.
3
4
ARTIST STATEMENT „My art is figurative. Since my childhood animals, beasts and other monsters had an effect on my visual world. The human touch is very important in my art, this is why all my sculptures are handmade by me. Thus the making of the retains the physical power and spontaneous instinct of creation. All my sculptures are situated on multiple levels. On the one hand, the characters are part of my personal backstory. One the other hand, the physical statues step into dialogue with their surroundings. In terms of form and content, the animal being a living creature syncs with wood as an organic material. Beyond the personal, my work strives to trigger a reaction in the spectator. Monumentality lends itself to this purpose and wood appropriate for these sizes. The arrivals build into a naive and puerile micromythology. In the centre of this world is the character of Dante. Dante is inspired by my dobermann. First, I created the book of Dante which tells his story and how he came to be the ruler of his own empire. Dante Empire evolved into a multidisciplinary moniker encompassing different forms of expression from sculptures through videos to furniture. Dante is my take on the contemporary world. He is my second skin.„
5
Giant Monsters
Horse of hungarian National Gallop The festivity of Hungarian villages and towns, the National Gallop is organized annually by Geszti PĂŠter since 2008. Its campaign is the persistent travel of its emblem, my black horse. This progressive event of tradition does not exclude contemporary art.
Horse, 2008 – Private Collection Photographer: Barnie
8
9
The bull birth and rebirthin budapest Within the confines of the renaissance year in August 2008 I built my bull statue in front of the eyes of the towny in Áprily park, Visegrád. This was the way I wanted to contribute to the town’s life. The statue stood for months, but some unknown people burnt it to ashes. This meant rebirth for me. The destruction of my bull statue was the impulse for me to build this statue in December 2008 at Ferenczi and Company Auction House and Gallery. The performance-like work was available for those who were interested in person or online, through the internet. The Gallery was opened in December with the perfection and intellectuality of my statue.
The new bull, 2008 Photographer: Barnie
10
The new bull, 2008 Photographer: Eva Szombat
11
The whale in budapest The whale is a 26 metres long monument that I nailed together of logs. The message of the statue is rebirth, the embrace of innovative values, permeability and change. It refers to the appearance of a foundation that will plead for a new style in Hungary: the CET Culture Centre. The statue is a monumental sculpture that can be circled and also a reception area. It is a mother whale with its foetus growing inside. The guests can become a part of the insemination by entering the statue through its genitals, visiting the unborn contemporary embryo. The inner and outer scope is separated and completed by the light and sound effects. The whale was completed in three weeks from 10 steres of slats with the help of sixteen people.
Inside of the CET, 2009 Photographer: Eva Szombat
12
13
The Cet, 2009 Photographer: Eva Szombat
Horses in the castle park The exhibition ”Horses in the park” was made in the „Helikon Castle Museum”. Nowadays it can be seen at the Millenáris Park in Budapest. During the preparation of the installation and during the organization of the open air he wanted to research how to drive the spectator from one point to another with dividing the weights, and the centres of gravity using the dynamics of the nine sculptures at the same time.
Photographer: Andras Vikman
16
Photographer: Andras Vikman
17
The Dino The Dino was made for the first Hungarian Wood Festival (2010), where the participating teams received a mile of slat to construct installations and sculptures for the festival. The seventeen meter long Dino, as the most monumental sculpture of the festival, was also exhibited during the Design Week Budapest 2010 in the Gรถdรถr.
Dino, 2010 Photographer: Mark Viszlay
Dino in Budapest City Center, 2010 Photographer: Andrรกs Vikman
20
21
The throne in the Kunsthalle Budapest Gábor Miklós Szőke made a gigantic interactive throne sculpture for the Lakastrend exhibiton in March 2011. The five meter high throne was made of wood of various shape and size.
Photographer: Antal Gabelics / Eva Szombat / Tamas Egry
22
23
The King Kong, the Dog and the Octopus in the doboz nightclub budapest Doboz, the largest party venue of the Seventh district, is characterized by a unique interior design. It is named after a huge, red, box-shaped establishment situated in the venue’s very heart (“doboz” means “box” in Hungarian). With its thematized, vast spaces – Grill Terrace, House Party Room, The Saloon – Doboz is truly a sight to behold. You can enjoy pieces of art courtesy of contemporary Hungarian artists, although the main attraction of Doboz is undoubtedly the King Kong statue hanging from a tree in the middle of the garden. The 8 meter high King Kong, the 6 meter long dog and the 13 meter long Octopus are standing in Doboz Budapest.
Photographer: BEAM
Photographer: Antal Gabelics
24
Photographer: BEAM
The Octopus, 2011 Photographer: BEAM
26
The King Kong and the Dog, 2011 Photographer: BEAM
The Octopus, 2011 Photographer: Antal Gabelics
28
The Octopus, 2011 Photographer: Antal Gabelics
29
The Octopus, 2011 Photographer: Antal Gabelics
Tiger of Szakácsi Hello Wood is a weeklong art camp in Hungary where 200 young people, led by various architects and designers, come together and create projects for eight different Hungarian communities. One of the projects that really stood out was the Tiger. The artist’s intent was for the Tiger to “protect” the people of the community and for it to “stand for power: the power of togetherness, self-advocacy and taking up the challenge.”
Tiger of Szakácsi, 2012
32
33
Tiger of Szakรกcsi, 2012
34
Tiger of Szakรกcsi, 2012
35
Kindergarten in hungary
Photographer: Eva Szombat Architect: Istvan Subert
36
37
Saco Hair budapest
Photographer: Tamas Bujnovszky
38
Photographer: Tamas Bujnovszky
The rocking horse in vienna Szőke was behind a giant interactive public art installation called “The Rocking Horse” which could accommodate 70 riders. Designed by Szőke in collaboration with András Huszár, the 11 meters long and 6 meters high, 3.5 ton sculpture was displayed at several locations throughout Budapest. It then made it way to Vienna to be a part of the the World Harmony Run closing event .held on October 8.
Photographer: Eva Szombat
40
41
Photographer: Eva Szombat
42
43
The last sturgeon in vienna Creative room design project at Collegium Hungaricum Vienna in the framework of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union Collegium Hungaricum Vienna invited creative designers from Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary in its 176 qm art gallery at HollandstraĂ&#x;e 4 (1020 Vienna) to compose a complex interior design art work based on a common concept. The once virulent wildlife of the Danube has been decimated, perhaps definitely, by civilisation. The regulation of the river bed and turning Blue Danube to an oily smudge, devastated and contaminated natural habitats. The artefact of GĂĄbor SzĹ‘ke grants a tribute to the last specimen of the sturgeon, the biggest species of fish that ever lived in the river. The use of the material, the manner of formulation, the fractured skin of the animal refers to its unnatural way of perishing. This is a tribute to the creature once living with us, having suffered a painful death by human. All of us are responsible to change this negligent attitude and to save the existence of the species that cohabit with us.
The last sturgeon, 2011
44
45
Furniture line
Photographer: Andras Vikman, Mark Viszlay
46
Photographer: Andras Vikman, Mark Viszlay
47
Dante empire IN the sziget festival
Photographer: Eva Szombat
Works: www.gabormiklosszoke.com Facebook: www.facebook/szokegabormiklos.com Dante Empire: www.danteempire.com Dante Empire on facebook: www.facebook/danteempire.com News portal by Nóri and Tikito:www.noriandtikito.tumblr.com The Book of the danteism: www.thedantesim.blogspot.com Gábor Miklós Szőke Asbóth utca 17. H-1075 Budapest, Hungary Mail to: H-1075 Budapest Asbóth u. 20. Mobile: +36 20 3830237 E-mail: danteempire@gmail.com
50