StartPoint Prize 2015

Márton Dés

The graduation project represents the artist's personal selection from a volume of paintings created during the past seven years he has spent studying at Art schools abroad. During his studies he strived to explore and define himself as an artist — a painter — and to view his work from a distance. As a result, he has now tried out various methods, techniques and materials. His (obsessive) art work remains a balanced blend of sensitivity, formal "clumsiness" and humour. Dés consistently finds inspiration for his Shrigley-ish "drawing paintings" in local periodicals capturing regular people at their regular activities. At other times, he draws trivial scenes from the life of regal family members and celebrities while, through his imaging form, breaking down the cold distance of usual media presentation. He copies and redraws whole texts from newspapers and books; letters stand out from the canvas as ornamentation. He strives not to have his art burdened by over-seriousness, to give a familiar impression, to be close to the viewer and to induce a sensation of déjà vu.