Ádám Szabó
1972, Budapest
“Ádám Szabó is a prominent sculptor from the generation that began their careers in the 1990s. His work is about the renewal of the genre - addressing not only spatial concerns but also more complex issues such as erosion and deconstruction. As a student of Tamás Körösényi, Szabó began his experimental works in the spirit of the new international sculptural trends of the 1990s, which were form-disruptive in their use of materials, and which interpreted sculpture not as a plasticity that could be walked around, but as a way of approach to space and form in the visual arts. Szabó was particularly drawn to natural forms, such as the correctable 'defects' of trees and fruit, as well as shapes that change over time, like surfaces eroded by rain or running water. His sculptures were often accompanied by videos video works created using animation techniques, introducing an element of uncertainty into the process of sculpting. His installations, which combined both form and the surreal possibility of its creation, stand as outstanding achievements in contemporary sculpture, matching international standards.
Szabó has recently been exploring an elusive concept: the shadow. The shape that appears when light is blocked out reveals much about the character of the illuminated object, but it does so from a unique perspective, that of the light source. Szabo is interested in what the remaining shadow can say about the object when the object is taken out of the system; he investigates how the shadow becomes a distinct sculptural form that discloses little about its origins, the form that defined its shape. The resulting works take the form of wall hangings, becoming three-dimensional images whose abstraction stems from the spatial positioning and illumination of a concrete, yet difficult-to-recognise object. These familiar shapes are waiting to be deciphered, and the viewer can only decode them by spending time engaging with the work.” – Excerpt from Zsolt Petrányi’s article
