THE CHESS IN THE PANEL

Panel is a new magazine of fiction, poetry, non-fiction and the arts, currently being produced in Central and Eastern Europe and originally written in English or translated into English.  Panel Magazine began to incubate in Budapest, where the core of its editorial staff and many of its contributors live. The magazine has 3 issues per year. I quote the following sentences from the new issue:

Istvan Orosz's novel Chess on The Island has not yet been translated into English, though it's available in Russian, and soon in Slovakian and Italian. The novel, which is  neither purely  documentary,  nor entirely fiction, takes place on the island of Capri, where future key members of the Bolshevik party and, later, the revolution, met to play chess. Here, Panel publishes an exclusive translation of one chapter of this novel, with a follow-up interview with Istvan Orosz.

The interview was made by Masha Kamenetskaya, the excerpt from the novel Chess on the Island was translated by Patrick Mullowney. Thanks for them. Please click here to read the new issue of the Panel. (The photo below was produced at the presentation of the new issue of Panel magazine at Massolit Books & Café in Budapest.)

EXHIBITION AND BOOK PRESENTATION IN NIZHNY NOVGOROD

Exhibition 'István Orosz: graphics, posters, anamorphosis'
April 11 — June 30, 2019

This spring, the Arsenal presents a new international project to the Nizhny Novgorod audiences: an exhibition of Hungarian artist, illustrator and poster painter István Orosz. The exhibition will show a collection of the artist's engravings, three-dimensional objects and posters.
Orosz's unique graphic code had become one of the most significant phenomena of the 21st century visual culture and art history. The three-dimensional space is not enough to embody the images from his imagination: in all his works the artist creates new dimensions and plays with them. The observers find themselves immersed in Orosz’s magical worlds, his unimaginable fantastic universe, and they do not rush to come back.
The exhibition will be supplemented with old books from several Russian museum and library collections: the History Museum of Perm University, the St. Petersburg Kunstkamera, the Karamzin Library from Simbirsk-Ulyanovsk and a special selection of zoological atlases, geographical studies, popular encyclopaedias and illustrated reference books of Nizhny Novgorod libraries, including the Central City Lenin Library.
Background information. Orosz István is Hungarian artist, designer, writer, poet and director, member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts. Born in Hungary in 1951. Graduated from the Graphic Design Department of the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest. Erno Rubik, the creator of the famous puzzle, was one of his teacher.
In his works, István Orosz resorts to visual paradoxes and spatial illusions, following, however, traditional drawing techniques, often referencing characters and events from the art history.
“There are things that I can imagine and draw. There are things that I can imagine, but I can not draw. But is there something I can draw, but I can’t imagine? It is this question that I am very much interested in!”
István Orosz
Curator of the Graphic Study programme: Evgeny Strelkov.
Exhibition opening will be held on April 10 at 19:00. The admission to the opening is free.
Working hours: Tuesday — Sunday, 12:00– 20:00.
Entrance tickets: 200 roubles, reduced price is 100 roubles.
Every Wednesday the admission to the exhibition is free.
Address: Nizhny Novgorod, Arsenal, Kremlin, building 6, right wing, 1st floor.
Phone: +7 (831) 422-45-54, www.ncca.ru/nnovgorod

EPREUVE D' ARTISTE

In deze tentoonstelling maakt U kennis met 2 uiteenlopende fantasiewerelden die tegelijkertijd toch een onderliggende gemeenschappelijke basis hebben.
De Hongaarse kunstenaar Istvan Orosz  en de Poolse Marcin Bialas scheppen beiden een eigen  universum, ontsproten uit hun  unieke  menselijke geest , maar toch bewust of onbewust geïnspireerd  door de impressies van beelden gemaakt door beroemde voorgangers zoals in dit geval Maurits Cornelis  Escher.
Op totaal verschillende wijze creëren ze een universum van steden en gebouwen waar de mens op een bevreemdende manier in ronddwaalt. Ons oog en onze geest worden in verwarring gebracht, enkel met verwondering  en bewondering kunnen we naar deze prenten kijken.

Van 24 maart tot 7 april.
Epreuve d’Artiste | Graphic Art Gallery
Chris Verheyen: chrisverheyen55@gmail.com | 0032(0)477 234095
Lucienne Verheyen: info@epreuvedartiste.be | 0032(0)3 2386858
Oudekerkstraat 64 | 2018 Antwerpen | Belgium
Openingsuren: zaterdag & zondag – 14.00 – 18.00 (tijdens expo’s) of op afspraak.
(Photo: Daniel Köster)

TOMI UNGERER (1931 - 2019)

The great icon of my youth, the brilliant French illustrator and poster designer, died at the age of 87. Yesterday I received a letter from my friend Feliks Büttner, he called 50 collagues for a joint exhibition: he asked to design posters entitled "Rich Shitting on Poor". Of course Tomi Ungerer was among the 50 invited artists. The theme fits for him very much, and I was happy to be in the same group. And here is the other news today. De passed away this morning. Calm down Tomi.

POSTERS AND ETCHINGS IN THE YELTSIN CENTER

The exhibition at the gallery of the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg will be open until March 24th. My book titled "Chess on the Island" can be purchased at the Centre's bookstore. Yes, you see well, no matter, how strange that poster is also on display. Thanks these photos for Olga Urasinova. 

EXHIBITION IN YEKATERINBURG

Exhibition of Istvan Orosz will be opened on 24th of January in Yekaterinburg at the Gallery of Yeltsin Centre. Opening speech and exhibition guide start at 18:30 PM.

Иштван Орос прибегает в своих работах к визуальным парадоксам и пространственным иллюзиям, следуя, однако, традиционным техникам рисования, зачастую отсылая зрителя к персонажам и событиям из истории искусства. С 1984 года художник использует псевдоним «Утис» (Utisz), что в переводе с греческого означает «никто». Это имя использовал древнегреческий персонаж Одиссей, чтобы обмануть циклопа и затем лишить его глаза. Этот иронический псевдоним отсылает к тому, что творчество Ороса подобно атаке на визуальное восприятие человека.

«Есть вещи, которые я могу себе представить, и могу нарисовать. Есть вещи, которые я могу представить, но не могу нарисовать. Но есть ли что-то такое, что я могу нарисовать, но не могу себе представить? Вот этот вопрос меня очень интересует!» - говорит о своих графических работах художник.

Плакаты Иштвана Ороса продолжают развитие графического языка художника, максимально очищая визуальный образ, оставляя лишь самую его суть – максимально выразительную визуальную метафору, не требующую никаких дополнительных разъяснений. Такая работа с визуальным образом делает его работы интернационально понятными в любом языковом пространстве.

«Если ты хочешь сделать плакат, постарайся объяснить свою идею в одном предложении. Потом упрощай и избавляйся от всего лишнего, до тех пор, пока не останутся лишь базовые вещи. И только когда тебе уже не нужны будут никакие слова и буквы, чтобы объяснить свою работу, можно считать, что плакат готов!»