Pál Deim (1932-2016) was an outstanding figure of the Hungarian neo-avantgarde art that emerged in the sixties. His art uniquely combines the Western European modernist painting tradition with the world of Szentendre’s and Serbian Orthodox motifs, and it fuses geometric abstraction with a human-centered, emotional mode of expression. His œuvre, in which he explores the fundamental questions of human experience through a few characteristic motifs, provides a unique cross-section of the East-Central European art of his time.
He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in the early sixties, in times when art institutions required that students follow socialist realist aesthetic principles. However, Pál Deim and some of his fellow students were interested in Western modernism and Hungarian avantgarde art, so they organized themselves into a circle to independently study suppressed sources, and to visit artists marginalized by the official institutional system, such as Lajos Kassák, Dezső Korniss, Tihamér
Gyarmathy. The group, whose core consisted of Imre Bak, Pál Deim, Endre Hortobágyi, Sándor Molnár and István Nádler, is referred to in art history as the Zugló
Circle, because they mostly met at Molnár’s apartment in Zugló, Budapest. In addition to this intellectual milieu, the painting traditions of Szentendre, primarily the art of Jenő Barcsay and Lajos Vajda, influenced Pál Deim’s early painting, which concluded in 1968 with the series Silence and Notes in a Monastery made in Prilep, Macedonia.
Pál Deim’s peculiar geometric abstract art, centered around a few motifs (figure resembling a human silhouette, walls, window frames, schematic drops), culminated in the seventies. The “organization of space” became a core issue in his mature creative period, which marked not only in his paintings (e.g., Architecture I-III), but also his three-dimensional designs and memorial plans. His works of different genres inspired one another, as he experimented with several materials and techniques. Furthermore, he was a participant in a number of workshops and contests aimed at making public spaces more liveable and decorating them with creative solutions.
His art is an intriguing combination of organic and geometric modes of expression, which enables the articulation of metaphysical contents, at the same time, it remains emotionally charged due to the human- like figure. This is most noticeable in case of works with erotic themes from the eighties, which represent the mystery of love and fertility as “sacred images,” according to Pál Deim’s intention. An outstanding series of his œuvre, the versions of Golgotha, reflect perhaps the purest synthesis of abstract and human-centered approaches.
Further interesting turns occurred in his art during the nineties, until after a colorful and decorative period, his works became increasingly solemn. The issue of space came to the fore again in the last phase of his career, and his last works reflected the intention to summarize and confront the passing of time.
If the essence of Pál Deim’s works had to be summed up in a single word, perhaps the concept of “silence” would be the most appropriate. His early paintings using
local motifs are surrounded by spiritual silence, and a thorough study of space marks his artistic approach afterwards. Although his erotically themed pictures and brightly coloured later works become a bit “noisy,” various aspects of “silence” pervade the recurring topics of his creative career of almost six decades.
His paintings and memorials engaging in the themes of sacrifice and mourning, as well as contemplative works exploring narratives about the continuity of life and passing away, are outstanding.
The exhibition commemorates the 90th anniversary of Pál Deim’s birth, and it undertakes to review his œuvre from a fresh perspective. Alongside his creative periods, it places emphasis on the analysis of his specific mode of abstraction and the concept of space in relation to his paintings, sculptures, as well as public works. The exhibition and the accompanying catalog aspire to cover the most important stages of his life and career to create a detailed portrait of him both as an artist and a person.