LEHOCZKY KRISZTINA (Kiállítási katalógusok - Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 2010)

THE CLASH OF THE EXCEPTIONALLY CONSCIOUS AND THE UNCONTROLLABLY FREE On the art of Krisztina Lehoczky After smaller scale exhibitions arranged in the former Art'éria Gallery Krisztina Lehoczky presents a comprehensive collection of her artistic achievements in Szentendre for the first time. It is hard to fathom that more than fifteen years have passed since she completed her preparation for a life dedicated to painting. During the last two decades of the twentieth century she participated in somewhat unconventional sojourns to Tibet and the Far East and studied under the guidance of Mentor Professors in the Academy of Munich and in the Master School of Pécs. Thus after several successful exhibitions held in Budapest and throughout Europe it is high time for this internationally noted artist to make her debut in the art scene of Szentendre, formerly named "the city of painters." Although born in the twentieth century, Krisztina Lehoczky's art as a reflection of a mature, ruggedly individual, artistic mindset is loosely connected to the artistic traditions of Szentendre thereby facilitating the survival of the respective legacy among the new generation of painters in the twenty-first century. Lehoczky adhering to the ideals and guidelines of classic fine arts creates standard compositions in large and medium size on canvas and hand mould paper in traditional square or rectangle format. These paintings as the fruits of a decade and a half of dedicated effort open new dimensions for the viewer. Alternating between concrete motives and abstract, symbolicmetaphoric signs along with definite decoded content-based references and expressions the respective art works suggest the rise of a special universe composed of geometric, organic, gesture-like, intuitive, and associative elements. Born of vigorous brush strokes these pictures display forceful and emblematic marks as Lehoczky forgoes details by concentrating on the large, characteristic, comprehensive, concrete, or abstract features. While earlier paintings described shaman drums, bedposts, trees of life, tulips, birds, and birth motifs, the newer works display a geometric arrangement of rectangle groups, arch sequences, spiral, circular, and spherical shapes. It is noteworthy that the reduced and minimalist formal order or the seemingly detached and plane-like arrangement is always countered with and dissolved softly by the sensitive, gentle, lifeaffirming, playful, and joyous colour scheme deploying a variety of hues: ochre, orange, and red in a subtly restrained manner. All Lehoczky's perceptive and insightful works commemorate a struggle between two artistic selves: the disciplined and controlled versus the unbridled and the free spirited. Whatever the focus: the concrete, identifiable, recognizable, and realistic motives, or the compositions arranged in meticulous geometric order along with the projection of the creator's inner self on canvas the viewer becomes a witness to a never ending battle between the exceptionally conscious artist and the uncontrollably free maverick. Looking at Lehoczky's paintings one might get the impression that an engineer's accuracy and rigorousness is needed to contain the flow of unstoppable gestures and emotions. Thus as the forms and shapes evolve into regular arrangements at the same time they rebel against their own standard, conventional appearance. Said ambiguity is reflected in the interplay of regularity and irregularity, in the dichotomies of crystallizations and dissolutions, or summons and re-phrasings along with the intuitive and evanescent references of the respective colours. In conclusion, Krisztina Lehoczky's works reflecting an abundance of the assets and achievements of the painting profession offer tremendously exciting, thought provoking, and meditative artistic sites while familiarising the viewer with exceptionally broad scale of options for decoding the respective images. Tibor Wehner 4