Hans Knoll

Csaba Nemes

29 Mar - 03 Jun 2006

CSABA NEMES

"The method of painting in oil that I worked out in the last years seemed to suit me perfectly. To keep watching the environment I'm living in, the country, the houses, the interiours, the persons standing close to me. To take a picture, when an image becomes more dense, when a possible painting is developed in my mind. To use the resulting photos as starting points or sketches of a painting or drawing. It needs to be stressed that the photos had the mere role of a sketch or a note. It's a fact that the composition was less or more defined by the viewfinder of the camera and I enjoyed this way of composing very much, it felt like having almost cought my hare so to speak.
Many pictures had been taken, and obviously not all of them were ment to become paintings. I didn't necessarily use them cronogically. ....
Every photo is a possibility for a new painting to be born and this seemed to be more and more overwhelming.
I had another bad experience with photographs. The way of being of the photo started to have an influence upon my paintings. Step by step I realised that between me and the subject there was a more and more hindering mediator.
I thought this over. Why do I need the photos for painting? Is it because I want them to be more reflective? Is this a matter of idleness? What would happen if I weren't using them anymore? Wouldn't it be too traditional, too academic? Is this matter interesting at all? Could this be nothing more than a dogmatic self-limitation or some kind of verification?
After having tortured myself with more and more questions, I realised that it doesn't help my paintings if I keep working out the solutions in my head. The best I can do is trying out. I started off quite cautiously, but in the meantime I felt excited. Then I was carried away by the work. There was more at stake with every painting. I had to fight more. The final solution became less predictable. There was more adventure in it, being in touch became more dramatic. All of a sudden the coulours were more vivid, the surface more sensual, my gestures more characteristic."
Csaba Nemes, 2006

© Csaba Nemes
 

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