A Békés Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 21. (Békéscsaba, 2000)

Gyarmati Gabriella: György Kohán: The Memory of War

Gyarmati Gabriella ters.What happened is not unique, so Kohán generalizes and exemplifies. His figures are reduced by his memory to concentrated essentiality. The things shown refer to an action beyond the theme proper: to the cause itself. That he was shocked by the experience is obvious. Monumental form, however, is justified by overpowering emotions, and this does not only mean exceptional size. Monumental is what is monumental in proportions as well as in the forcefulness of representation building up to a dramatic climax. The work itself is a climax, a final, painful tension. Objectivity is impossible: the viewer is still impressed by the creator's exasperation and indignation that called the work to life. Kohán's oeuvre has remained valid to this day. He represented the great end-points of life: birth and death. And what is in between, fugacious life for which we have to pay a price, but which also rewards us with a susbtly woven texture of gold glittering in the rays of sunlight. Gabriella Gyarmati Erkel Ferenc Museum Gyula Kossuth Street 17 5700 326