Canyon, for Y Ádám Szabó

Since the beginning of his career as a sculptor, Ádám Szabó has explored the frontiers of the genre, making use of unusual materials that he often combines with photographs or film. After studying art history, he graduated from the Department of Sculpture at the University of Fine Arts as a student of Pál Kő and Tamás Körösényi. His works explore how the material elements of reality are transformed by environmental impacts – weather, light, disease, or aging. He has established a unique position for himself in Hungarian art with sculptures that explore the concept of “plastic surgery” on rotting fruits and the growth of unknown skin diseases or organisms. His exhibited works include object ensembles resembling sand tables, with associated videos, where the wood or marble surfaces are reshaped by toy machines or vehicles. Canyon, on display here, uses sculpture and stop motion photo animation to show the impact of geological processes on a surface. The work traces the way that a landform is eroded by a meandering river, as the water cuts a deep rift into the hard stone. The artist cut through layer after layer, documenting each individual phase in photographs. He then used the stills to create a video sequence, which is an integral part of the work, illustrating changes to the Earth’s surface and the formation of a canyon. Although Ádám Szabó’s work often explores the impact of human beings on nature and the environmental damage caused by industry, Canyon focuses on the power of nature to create self-contained beauty that we discover only when it is made visible by the medium of art.

Zsolt Petrányi