Agria 43. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2007)

H. Szilasi Ágota: Kígyó és spirál – kozmoszlétünk földi vetülete. Földi Péter jelértékű művészetéről

BIVOLLARU, Georgian: A jang spirál, http://hu.wikisource.org/wiki/ A Jang_spir%C3 % A

1 l_miszt%C3 % A9riumai Ágota H. Szilasi Snake and Spiral - Earthly Manifestations of Our Cosmic Being: Symbolism in the Work of Péter Földi Péter Földi occupies an interesting position in contemporary Hungarian painting. Living in Somoskőújfalu and teaching at Eger'

s Károly Eszterházy College his decision to remain in the village of his birth has proved to be the making of him as an artist. Respect for Földi'

s work has resulted in him being awarded with the Munkácsy Prize, the Kossuth Prize (2007) and the title of Artist of Merit. He has not been one to follow current artistic trends, and his artistic vision imbued as it is with clear ethical values which took root at the beginning of the 1970s, continue to stand him in good stead today. His paintings hint at the limits of our human existence, touching on that point where ultimate truth lies somewhere between the soaring heavens and mundane home truths. The most thorough account of Földi's work can be found in the catalogue that was published in 2005, for which the present author was invited to write the forward, edit the pictures and select the texts. Ours is a friendship that goes back many decades, to my childhood, something that accounts for the subjectivity that usually creeps in when I devote attention to his work. His paintings are built on the virtues of constant study and a desire to attain an understanding of our existence. While it is an endeavour that is ultimately futile, the works in their complexity nevertheless manage to create a state of heightened spiritual awareness. During the course of the year I spent researching the book, my terms of reference took me beyond the confines of a mere forward. For this reason I have taken this opportunity to return to the question of the paintings' symbolic meaning, looking both at the evolution of the paintings themselves as well as purely artistic concerns. Here we devote some time to several frequently used symbolic motifs present in works such as - Csorda (Herd), 1978; Karám (Fold), 1982; Nyitva van az Aranykapu... (The Golden Gate is Open.

..), 1985; Rongyszőnyeg I—II. (Rag Rug), 1992-93; Vetésforgó (Crop Rotation), 1995-96; Nappali csillagok (Daylight Stars) 1998-99; A kígyó csókja (The Snake's Kiss), 2002. We would also like to express our indebtedness to Magdolna Supka, who passed away at about the same time the catalogue was published. It is for this 807