~A child meets a forbidden book for the first time. He flicks through the yellowing pages in confusion, while the strange, grotesque shapes of the drawings both attract and repel him. Years later, the illustrations come to life – the gnome-like figures from the past now leave their mark not only on paper but also on the fabric of reality. ~
Collection of Dirty Jokes
The title and narrative of the exhibition is woven through the uncomfortable humorous world of dirty jokes – stories that are not fit to be told, but for some reason keep turning up again and again. Boglárka Szarka’s work represents the provocative edge of contemporary painting.
The young artist, who graduated last year from the Hungarian University of Fine Arts with a degree in painting, boldly puts the traditions of realism into a new context in her two large-scale oil paintings Cumshot and Milking Machine. These paintings evoke images that were once mere caricatures but have now become real, surreal compositions.
They are frozen scenes where the body becomes malleable, boundaries blurred, humour at once uncomfortable and liberating. Cumshot is an intimate yet raw representation of physicality that forces the viewer to confront taboos. The composition and the use of light capture the intensity of the moment, while the titling deliberately provokes the boundaries of traditional artistic “taste”.
The Milking Machine explores the complex relationship between the female body and the mechanical. The monumental scale and rich detailing emphasize the gravity of the subject, prompting the viewer to consider issues of power, vulnerability and desire. In the exhibition, the paintings are surrounded by organic objects resembling sexual aids, used lingerie, and porcelain figurines – as if they were part of a grotesque collection.
Boglárka Szarka’s paintings are impressive not only for their visual power, but also for their confrontational approach to the representation of social conventions and sexuality. The exhibition invites the viewer to a dialogue where (s)he is forced to confront hir own prejudices and taboos about the body.