Károly Hopp-Halász (1946–2016) used a variety of media from the very beginning of his career. Although photography, video, performance, and installation all played significant roles in his art, painting remained the most important medium for him throughout his life. A prominent element in Hopp-Halász’s body of work is the dot, primarily referencing the motif of the polka-dotted bundle. Beyond its personal, cultural memories and associations, as well as its evocation of journeying and migration, the dot also intrigued the artist as a strictly reduced, isolated, image-forming geometric shape.
The selection of works presented in acb Plus forms the first segment of a three-part exhibition series (Neo Geo – Open Geometry – Monolithic Structure) and focuses on dotted works from the 1980s and 1990s. It examines paintings from the series the artist called Neo Geo, exploring how the dot, as a modernist fundamental element, plays perceptual, decorative, image-forming, and symbolic roles in his work.
On the occasion of the exhibition, the latest publication on Hopp-Halász’s oeuvre, titled Bodies of Geometry, will be published by acb ResearchLab.