The Moore Space

Agnes Szepfalvi

14 Oct - 04 Dec 2006

ÁGNES SZÉPFALVI
"Scene", 51.2 x 74.8 inch, 2006, oil on canvas
RESOLUTION
drawings, watercolors and paintings by Szépfalvi Ágnes

Opening reception: Saturday, October 14, 2006, 7-10pm
Exhibition Dates: October 14- November 1, 2006

The Moore Space presents RESOLUTION , a mini-exhibition of drawings, paintings and watercolors by Hungarian artist Agnes Szepfalvi. As part of the 2006 CEC Artslink program, she is currently a resident artist at The Moore Space for a period of one month. In her exhibition project, she presents a series of works that relate to her ongoing source investigation with film and how film translates into other media. Rather than merely formalistic in her treatment, as the works may suggest upon first impression, Szepfalvi concentrates on the dramatic qualities of these scenes as social and psychological expression. She produces visual archives containing images from film magazines, postcards, snapshots from family albums and slides taken on trips. These scenes are presented as montages, or individually. “As I paint I am the protagonist in my own movie where anything is possible. The tension in the pictures comes from the dreamlike reality I show to the public. I prefer scenes where tension comes from an undefined ambiguity between the protagonists and the works. The viewer, then, must make the process of separating the work into constituent parts; to decipher what is going on. I like storytelling images where it is hard to tell what is really going on, who is the victim and who is the offender ", states the artist.

The word "resolution” has multiple meanings. As a noun it means determination or firmness; and in an image, it means focus. It is used in business, chemistry and also in photography to describe very different states of being. The artist uses these multiple meaning to further enhance the ambiguity of the scenes and of her work.

Agnes Szépfalvi belongs to a generation of painters in Hungary engaged in reviving the illusionist tenets of painting and drawing while simultaneously embarking on a form of postmodern critique. She is also one of several women artists whose gender-conscious investigations are gaining new ground in the national arena. Beneath her paintings' seemingly saccharine facades lies a considered questioning of the cultural apparatus, high and low, that defines the female identity. The iconography in Szépfalvi's depictions belongs to the world of media, as manifested above all in films, magazines and in advertising. Since the beginning of her career, she has investigated the nature of mass media and stereotypical representations of women complemented with images in which women appear in various forms of relationships vis-á-vis men. Although the primary source is often-times film, these paintings never function as mere copies, but are rather meant to evoke a certain mode of representation.

The opening reception of the exhibition is on Saturday, September 9, 2006 from 7-10pm, concurrent to Art & Design Night in the Design District. The Moore Space is located at 4040 NE 2 nd Avenue, 2 nd floor, Miami, FL 33137.

The Moore Space is a non-profit arts organization dedicated to multi-disciplinary contemporary art practices. It offers a year-round program including exhibitions, educational programs, internships, artist residencies, lectures, and performances. Since its founding in 2001 by collector Rosa de la Cruz together with Craig Robins, an integral part of its exhibition program has been to invite guest curators to contribute new ideas and new thought to the organization and the Miami arts community at large. This project is generously sponsored by Craig Robins ; Rosa de la Cruz ; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, The Miami-Dade Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners ; and CEC Artslink.

For more information, please contact Silvia Cubina at 305-438-1163 and info@themoorespace.org or visit www.themoorespace.org