Máté Orr: Masks, Mysteries and Other Worldly Pleasures.
Exhibition at Fairhurst Gallery Norwich
Fairhurst Gallery continues to go from strength to strength as an imaginative and enterprising contemporary art venue for Norwich. This exhibition is the first in what they hope will be a series of ‘East to East’ presentations of artists from Central and Eastern Europe (a project that nicely echoes Lynda Morris’s philosophy at NUA when she ran EAST international). It has been facilitated by Lance and Jane Hattat, a lively couple of art enthusiasts who live partly in Norfolk and partly in Hungary. They have been crucial behind the admirable decision to give the young artist, Máté Orr, his first UK outing, and the show is a sell-out! His motto is Carpe Noctem (seize the night!) and the other-worldly ambiguity in his title echoes the appeal of his mysterious canvases, which riff on Dutch Old Masters, mythic animals, very early Velasquez, the baroque, and surreal sexual encounters. Each is a heady mix of flat silhouette, checkerboard motifs and hyper-realist brushwork, all immaculately painted and framed. He calls his work ‘Neo-Baroque Futurism’, a term I can’t quite fathom, but never mind that, this show is well worth a visit, so catch it before it finishes on 10 June. See here for images.
John Kiki Nessus and Deneira, 200 x 192cm Acrylic on canvas, 2008 Norwich Castle and Art Gallery
One reason I mention this exhibition at all is because I find it so reassuring to encounter contemporary artists who are both figurative painters and at the same time embrace and respect the long grand European tradition of artistic motifs and concerns. A key element in Orr’s work is myth, both contemporary and Classical, and I am now trying to grasp the fact that there are two large paintings hanging in Norwich, at the same time, each showing a totally different take on the myth of the centaur Nessus and Deianira. So how likely is that!?
There are many versions of this ancient story but the most quoted concerns the Tunic of Nessus. A wild centaur named Nessus attempted to kidnap or rape Deianira as he was ferrying her across the river Euenos. She was rescued by Heracles who shot the centaur with a poisoned arrow. As he lay dying, Nessus persuaded Deianira to take a sample of his blood, telling her that a potion of it mixed with oil would ensure that Heracles would never again be unfaithful.
Deianira believed his words and she kept a little of the potion by her. Heracles fathered illegitimate children all across Greece and then fell in love with Iole. Deianira, fearing that her husband would leave her forever, smeared some of the blood on Heracles' famous lion-skin shirt. When he put it on, the centaur's toxic blood burned Heracles terribly, and eventually he threw himself into a funeral pyre. In despair, Deianira committed suicide by hanging herself or with a sword.
Tough stuff, but great visually! The stunning painting by Orr has Nessus with a horse’s rather than a human head, as does Deianira in her hunting togs. The other version is by Yarmouth painter John Kiki, whose large canvas was shown at his exhibition in the Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery in 2008 and now resides in the Castle’s contemporary collection (sadly not currently on view). Well worth the effort of a ‘compare and contrast’ session! It is such wonderful serendipity that confirms to me just how lucky we are to live in Norwich!
The Fairhurst exhibition is on from 25 April – 10 June 2017
Máté Orr Riding the Centaur Nessus 100 x 80cm oil and acrylic on canvas 2017