Attila Mata
Sculptor
’Without Viewers Sculptures Do Not Exist
I create sculptures because it’s the Viewer who really matters to me. My goal is to catch his/her attention and to inspire thought. I would like to invite him/her to take part in the creation of the artwork using his/her imagination.
I enjoy experimenting with forms and all kinds of materials. I am interested in ancient themes e.g. sex(uality), death, gods etc. In my artwork the human body is usually reduced to geometric forms and reorganized as geometric structures. I am also attracted to the extreme. If my theme is a god, it must be e.g. Golem with his brutal energy. I find some modern themes exciting, too: outer and inner surface of the form, how to use color – paint – on sculpture, design, the structure of the material and its effect on form, combining two kinds of materials on the same artwork. During my career I have used a lot of materials: wood, bronze, aluminum, stainless steel, acrystal, in their natural and painted versions.’
BIOGRAPHY
| 06/02/1953 | Born in Eger |
| 1977-1983 | Studied at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, his master: Tamás Vígh |
| 1981 | Member of the National Association of Hungarian Artists |
| 1986 | Member of the Studio of Young Artists |
| 1993-1994 | Secretary of the Sculpture Section of the Association of Hungarian Fine and Applied Artists |
| 1995-1997 | President of the Hungarian Sculptor Society |
| 2006 | One of the foundation members of the Morph Group |
| 2018 | Member of the Matéria Art Association |
Important Prizes
and Scholarships
| 2017-2022 | Represented by Agora Gallery, New York (USA) |
| 2009 | 2009 HUNGART Scholarship |
| 1993 | 1993 3rd prize, 13th National Biennial of Small Sculpture, Pécs (H) |
| 1992 | 1992 Munkácsy Mihály Prize |
| 1987 | 1987 1st prize, 10th National Biennial of Small Sculpture, Pécs (H) Derkovits Niveau Prize |
| 1986-1989 | 1986-1989 Derkovits Scholarship |
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
| 2023 | Pop-up, EFKZ Festival, Biatorbágy (H) |
| 2022 | ‘Abstract Space Illusions’, Fészek Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| Vajdahunyad Contemporary (with László Sallay), Budapest (H) | |
| 2019 | ’Feminae Metallicae’, Esernyős Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| ’Space-Matter’, pop-up, Art Salon Társalgó Gallery, Budapest (H) | |
| 2014 | Pince Gallery of Józsefváros, Budapest (H) |
| 2012 | Hungart, Olof Palme House, Budapest (H) |
| 2011 | Mono Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| 2010 | G13 Gallery (with Judit Rita Rabóczky), Budapest (H) |
| National Theatre – Ziggurat Gallery, Budapest (H) | |
| Community Centre (with Márk Lelkes), Biatorbágy (H) | |
| 2009 | Galleria 5, Helsinki (FIN) |
| Art Salon Társalgó Gallery, Budapest (H) | |
| Hungarian Institute, Tallin (ES) | |
| 2008 | Bartók 32 Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| 2007 | Mono Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| 2006 | Ráday Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| Éva Skoda Gallery (with El Kazovsky), Budapest (H) | |
| Grand Hotel, Budapest (H) | |
| Erdős Renée House, Budapest (H) | |
| 2002 | Vadnai Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| 2001 | Torony Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| Art’otel, Budapest (H) | |
| 1997 | Vigadó Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| 1994 | Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest (H) |
| 1992 | Danube Gallery (with Attila Orbán), Budapest (H) |
| 1991 | Kulturzentrum Künstlerbahnhof, Darmstadt (D) |
| 1989 | Ulmisches Theater, Ulm (D) |
| Cellar Gallery of Pécs, Pécs, (H) | |
| 1986 | Pince Gallery of Óbuda, Budapest (H) |
| Újpest Gallery, Budapest (H) |
Group Exhibitions, Fairs
| 2024 | ‘ENGRAM’,Matéria Art Association, Club-Gallery of Újlipótváros, Budapest (H) |
| 3rd Toolip International Art Contest, Final Exhibition, Toolip Art Gallery, Budapest (H) | |
| Stefánia Sculpture Park, Spring Show 2024.,Budapest (H) | |
| “Summer City Idyll”, Agora Gallery, New York (USA) | |
| “ArtExpo New York, New York (USA) | |
| 2023 | Red Dot Miami, Miami (USA) |
| ‘Roads and Junctions’, K Gallery, Budapest (H) | |
| XLII. Summer Group Exhibition, REÖK (Regional Arts Center), Szeged (H) | |
| 77+7 Hungarian Icons, Black House, Szeged (H) | |
| Matéria Art Association, Tatabánya (H) | |
| Shifts – Updated!, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest (H) | |
| ‘Equilibrium’, Five sculptors, Etyek (H) | |
| 2022 | Red Dot Miami, Miami (USA) |
| ArtRegister Exhibition, Budapest (H) | |
| Photo Performance 69, B32 Gallery, Budapest (H) | |
| “From Thoughts to Artwork”, PAKS Gallery, Heidenreichstein Castle (A) | |
| Káli Art Inn Artpark, Kővágóörs (H) | |
| ‘Any Old Time’, Galería Azur Madrid Letras, Madrid (E) | |
| ‘Art between Thoughts and Spontaneity’, PAKS Gallery, Vienna (A) | |
| ‘New Contemporary. The Unique World’, PAKS Gallery, Munich (D) | |
| 2021 | ‘PSSST’, Wilma W. Daniels Gallery, Wilmington (USA) |
| Red Dot Miami, Miami (USA) | |
| Artexpo New York, Agora Gallery, NY (USA) | |
| 25++, Bartók 1 Gallery, Budapest (H) | |
| Autumn Group Exhibition, Stefánia Sculpture Park, Budapest (H) | |
| Group Show of the Matéria Art Association, Érd (H) | |
| Pintér Auction, Balatonfüred (H) | |
| ‘Matter & Spirit’, Group Show of the Matéria Art Association, Cluj-Napoca (RO) | |
| Spring Group Exhibition, Stefánia Sculpture Park, Budapest (H) | |
| XLI. Summer Group Show, REÖK (Regional Arts Center), Szeged (H) | |
| ‘Transcending Passages’, Agora Gallery, New York, NY (USA) | |
| 2020 | ‘7 Years – 150 Exhibitions’, Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest (H) |
| ‘Morph’, Exhibition of the Morph Group, Dunabogdány (H) | |
| ‘Steel Stories’, REÖK (Regional Arts Center), Szeged (H) | |
| Artonomy/2nd National Salon of Fine Arts, Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest (H) | |
| 2019 | Antik and Art Budapest, Art Fair and Exhibition, Faur Zsófi Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| ‘Horror Vacui’, Újlipótvárosi Club Gallery, Budapest (H) | |
| Artexpo, New York, NY (USA) | |
| 2018 | ’MORPH’, Exhibition of the Morph Group, Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest (H) |
| Spectrum Miami, Agora Gallery, New York, Miami (USA) | |
| ’Exhibition of the MMT (Matéria Art Association), Vaszary Gallery, Kaposvár (H) | |
| ’Lyrical abstraction’, Agora Gallery, New York, NY, (USA) | |
| ’Summer Group Show’, Onishi Gallery, New York, NY (USA) | |
| Artexpo, Agora Gallery, New York, NY (USA) | |
| 2017 | ’3D – 2017’, MANK Old Artists’ Colony in Szentendre (H) |
| Summer Exhibition, REÖK (Regional Arts Center), Szeged (H) | |
| 2016 | ’Light, Color, Form – Polychrome Harmonies’, Modern Art Gallery, Veszprém (H) |
| 2015 | 38th Summer Exhibition, Szeged (H) |
| ’Here and Now / Fine Arts/ National Salon’, Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest (H) | |
| BIAB, 6th Beijing International Art Biennial, Beijing (CHN) | |
| Quadriannale, Modern Art Gallery, Pécs (H) | |
| 2014 | 3rd Biennial of Sculpture, Art Mill, Szentendre (H) |
| 2013 | VOLTA9 (with Csaba Fürjesi), Léna & Roselli Gallery, Basel (CH) |
| 2012 | ’Sammler und Sammlung’, Ulmischer Museum, Ulm (D) |
| 2011 | ’Without Borders’, Contemporary Croatian Sculpture + Hungarian Reflections, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| Pentamorph, Gallery of the Artists’ Colony (Ferenczy Museum), Szentendre (H) | |
| Exhibition of the Morph Group, Stroganov Academy, Moscow (RUS) | |
| 2010 | ’Human Perspectives’, Exhibition of the Morph Group, REÖK (Regional Arts Center), Szeged (H) |
| 2009 | ’New Works in the KOGART Contemporary Collection’, Budapest (H) |
| Day of Painting, Ziggurat Gallery, Budapest (H) | |
| 2008 | ’Selected Works from the Contemporary Collection of the Hungarian National Gallery’, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| Budapest Exhibition Hall of Budapest, History Museum (Budapest Gallery), exhibition of the Morph Group, Budapest (H) | |
| 2007 | Wien Art Fair, Vienna (A) |
| ’Expressionistic Tendencies in Hungarian Contemporary Art (1980-2007)’, Danubia – Muelensteen Art Museum, Bratislava (SK) | |
| ’Ungarisches Accent’, exhibition of the Morph Group, Hungarian Embassy, Berlin (D) | |
| ’Skulpturen der Gruppe Morph’, exhibition of the Morph Group, Collegium Hungaricum, Vienna (A) | |
| 2006 | ’Path, 1956-2006’, Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest (H) |
| MORPH (debut exhibition), Aulich Art Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| 2005 | Ground for Sculpture, Hamilton New Jersey (USA) |
| Salon d’Automne, Paris (F) | |
| 2004 | KOGART House, Budapest (H) |
| Salon d’Automne, Paris (F) | |
| 2001 | American-Hungarian Exhibition, Nexus Gallery, Philadelphia (USA) |
| 2000 | ’With Art into the New Millennium’, contemporary sculpture exhibition, City Park, Budapest (H) |
| 1999 | Hungarian-American Exhibition, Budapest Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| 1998 | ’Zeitgenössische Kunst aus Ost- und Südost-Europa, Stadthaus, Ulm (D) |
| 1997 | ’Woman’, Vigadó Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| 1994 | Exhibition of Small Sculpture, Vigadó Gallery, Budapest (H) |
| 1992 | ’Acht Ungarn’, Neue Galerie, Graz (A) |
| 1990 | ’The Art of the Eighties’, Ernst Museum, Budapest (H) |
| 1989 | ’Kunst heute in Ungarn’, Neue Galerie Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen (D) |
| 1988 | ’Junge Künstler aus der DDR und Ungarn’, Rostock (D) |
| Studio Exhibition, Ernst Museum, Budapest (H) | |
| 1987 | 10th Biennial of Small Sculpture, Pécs (H) |
| Zeitgenössische bildende Kunst aus Ungarn’, Galerie der Künstler, Munich (D) | |
| 1985 | ’40 Creative Years’, Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest (H) |