JÁNOS FODOR

born in Budapest, 1975
lives and works in Berlin

Momentary coincidence is called a conjunction. It might be accidental or intended, but in both cases the phrase denotes a phenomenon that displays a meaning surpassing itself. János Fodor is an excellent observer. He comes and goes in the world, noticing minute details that are self-existent, but for him, these connect with other elements of reality seen at the same time and place. Simple facts lead to association, to seeking connections. Through this process, the selected thing becomes related to another selected thing, thus turning into a channel of meaning. Reality is full of minute details that can become meaningful if matched properly. One of the artists tasks might be to call attention to these relations, stating that our world is a surface filled with conjunctions waiting to be discovered.
The connecting link of Fodor´s oeuvre, encompassing several media, is analytic, exploratory behaviour. Be it drawing, photography, object or video, the works display gestures that disclose the hermetic dimensions of the cognition of reality.
If there are model conditions to be found in his works, his photographs definitely conform to them. Surprising conjunctions, mostly found in urban environment, call attention to the interpretable accidentality. Street objects, posters, stickers and signs radiate humour and the happiness of recognition.
His objects may well be interpreted as projections of seeking connections: his installations and sculptures constructed of found objects display art historic and common associations pertaining to material culture. In his compilations, twentieth century concept- and pop-mentality meets the practice of artistic awareness.
Fodor´s videos provide another aspect of his view of the world. Besides the short films expressing the aesthetic and philosophical beauty of accidental events, lately he has been recording sequences exploring the artistic aspects of movements and gestures. A pen leaving a trace on the wall, a geometric shape tapped by ballet shoes on the plaster or the sight of a piece of clothing lashing against the wall; the sight and sound of these convince the viewer in their simplicity of the value and richness of the tiniest details of reality.
A drawing is the most personal mark of the artist. In Fodor´s case, his lines consequently depict and align simply drawn figures, which narrate general emotions and relations through their shape and movements, with the help of the ever so acknowledged world of cartoon culture.
The unity of this artistic activity arises exactly from its diverseness. The more sides of the same experience he sheds light on, the better he can render its beauty and lovability perceptible. Although Fodor is a man of words, he just cannot tell everything about his experiences. His means of communication beyond verbality is art, with he help of which he can direct focus on such things that most of us would fail to notice.

Zsolt Petrányi

EXHIBITIONS

BIOGRAPHY

EDUCATION

2001 – 2004

Intermedia Department, University of Fine Arts, Budapest

SCHOLARSHIPS AND GRANTS

2002 – 2002

Studio of Young Artists' Prize (with Tibor Horváth)

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022

Gradient, Kisterem

2018

Videnda, Kisterem, Debrecen
Ataraxia, Sesztina Gallery, Debrecen

2014

Overmorrow, Grimmuseum, Berlin

2011

Kisterem, Budapest

2010

Kisterem, Budapest
L.A.Galerie, Frankfurt, Art Cologne

2008

Lada Projekte, Berlin

2007

Kisterem, Budapest

2006

Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
fix Impex Gallery, Budapest

2004

hellp, Fészek Klub, Budapest

2003

‘..’. Polish Institute, Budapest (with Agnieszka Brzeżańska)

2002

JAVA – series, Balázs Béla Stúdió, Budapest (documentary films & events, with Tibor Horváth)
„élek” – series, Knoll Gallery, Budapest (interviews and reports, with Tibor Horváth)

2001

Investment, Bercsényi Galéria, Budapest
Futro public art project, Budapest (with Tibor Horváth)

1999

Instant, Stúdió Galéria, Budapest

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022

FÉL1ooMÉLY ÉV 1 PINCEMŰHELYBEN, Vajda Lajos Stúdió, Szentendre
Káli Art Inn, Köveskál

2020

Finally We Can Learn Something, Kincsem Palace (organised by Kisterem), Budapest

2019

Listing VIII., Kisterem
Bauhaus100. Programme for the now – Contemporary Viewpoints, Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest

2018

Scale, Új Budapest Galéria, Budapest

2015

All you can eat, Kreuzberg Pavilion, Berlin

2014

Report on The Constuction of A Spacehip Module, New Museum, NY
SPAR, Kreuzberg Pavilion, Berlin

2013

Emperor`s new cloth, Trafo, Budapest

2012

Heimat,Wuste,Herberge, Grauer Hof, Aschersleben
Haunting Monumentality, Gallery Plan-B, Berlin
Listing, Kisterem, Budapest

2011

Never Odd or Even, Grimm Museum, Berlin
Kalifornia, Trafó Gallery, Budapest

2010

Malkasten, Dusseldorf

2009

Solyst, SAIR/VAK, Denmark
Kalifornia, Trafó Gallery, Budapest

2008

Preview Berlin, Impex
Indoor-Outdoor Kisterem, Budapest
Pampero Apartments, Berlin
Infernesque, Berlin

2007

Futurama or re-inventing tradition? CHB, Berlin
Imaginary Paradises, Foto Rio, Parc des Ruínas, Rio de Janeiro

2006

Bucharest Biennale 2, Romania
Steiler Konter, Bregenzer Kunstverein, Bregenz, Austria
Urban Explorers’ Festival, CBK, Dordrecht, Holland
Urban Contact Zone, projektgruppe, Hamburg, Germany
Repetition Kisterem, Budapest
Estranged Proximities Latitude 53, Edmonton, Canada
Generally Believed,ex-Mongolian Embassy, Berlin

2005

Gallery by Night 05, Studio Gallery, Budapest
Green Wind, public video projection, Budapest
Private Matter?, Kunsthalle, Budapest

2004

Poesis, Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest
Last East European Show, Museum of Contemporary Art, Beograd, Serbia
Hidden Holocaust, Műcsarnok, Budapest
Unframed Landscapes, Dunaújváros – Zagreb – London
Fresh, Kogart Art Foundation, Budapest
Girls and Guns, Dorottya Gallery, Budapest (with Róza El-Hassan)
Soap Opera, Kunsthalle, Budapest
Lost & Found, CBK, Dordrecht, Holland

2003

Transmissionen, Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Stuttgart, Germany

2002

Hot Destination – Marginal Destiny, suburban shopping mall, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Budapest Box, Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest

2001

Malice et Danube, Galérie de l’École des beaux arts, Marseille, France

2000

StaticNoise, Institute of Contemporary Art, Dunaújváros
Climate, Műcsarnok/Kunsthalle, Budapest

1999

RealArt, Trafó, Budapest
Aritmia 5, Institute of Contemporary Art, Dunaújváros

Works in Public Collections

Videos