Cherry on Top at ENA Viewing Space / Árpád Forgó
Curator: Peter Bencze
Date: September 25 – November 12, 2021
Photography: Áron Weber / all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Everybody Needs Art, Budapest
Instagram: @arpadforgo, @enaviewingspace, @everybodyneedsart
In the tradition of the Hungarian neo avant-garde, Forgó shapes canvas to create visually
alluring, subtle kinetic works while embracing the heritage of European abstraction and
developing it further through his own geometric methods, such as reflection, shifting and
rotation. Árpád Forgó’s meticulously shaped canvases are built from his pre-defined modular
system that emphasizes the rhythm of the planar and spatial relationships. Each panel is
pared down to its basic elements – form and color, into a unique dimensional construction
that retains the material’s inherent integrity and beauty. Forgó experiments with various
painting techniques and materials, such as Chinese leatherettes, producing a lustrous,
transient color effect on the surface of his unconventional assemblages. Forgó questions
how we look, perceive and reveal the physical aspects of space. Each viscerally
proportioned work reveals compositional variations of depth and surface as they are moved
about, unfolding and transforming along the gallery walls. This fluid relationship between the
whole and the segment are the crux of Forgó’s sophisticated practice.
Árpád Forgó has exhibited in various museums and art institutions across the globe, such as
the Museo della Permanente, Milan, Italy; Rómer Flóris Art and History Museum, Györ,
Hungary, Ludwig Museum and Vasarely Museum, Budapest, Hungary; Museum Ritter,
Waldenbuch, Germany; Mark Rothko Art Center, Daugavpils, Latvia, Hungarian Cultural
Institutes in Brussels, Belgium and Warsaw, Poland; Griffin Gallery, London, UK,
SNO Gallery, Sydney Australia; Milano Gallery, Warsaw, Poland.
Forgó is a 2019 recipient of The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, and has been awarded numerous grants and residencies, including the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont; the Sydney Non Objective Contemporary Art Projects, Sydney, Australia; the Lademoen Kunstnerverksteder,
Trondheim, Norway; The Sam and Adele Golden Foundation for the Arts, New Berlin, New
York, USA; and Swatch Art Peace Hotel’s AIR Program in Shanghai, China and most
recently was chosen to participate in The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Bethany,
Connecticut, USA.