Passion and vision transform Várfok utca

Andreea Anca interviews the mastermind behind Budapest`s emerging `art quarter.`

What does the 86-year-old French painter Francoise Gilot (also known for her very close association with Pablo Picasso - she is the mother of their children Paloma and Claude) have in common with the 31-year-old Hungarian artist László Gyôrffy?

At first sight, Gilot`s colorful and pleasant abstract cubism seems to share very little with Gyôrffy`s paintings, which are so precisely executed that they often look like photographs expressing an unsettling humor and macabre irony.

Yet, the two artists opened their exhibitions at the same time at the Várfok Gallery on the last day of May, each occupying one of the two venues situated just across Várfok utca from one another.

Károly Szalóky, the owner of the gallery which represents both painters, as well as 14 other contemporary artists, prompted the event. The man with a distinctive bushy beard and a friendly manner is a local pioneer in trading art, working hard at making Hungarian artists better known abroad.

Those that his gallery represents belong mainly to the classical avant-garde, but alongside names like El Kazovszkij and István Nádler there are also artists from the younger generation like Gyôrffy, Zsuzsi Csiszér and András Király.

Exhibiting Gilot alongside the up-and-coming Gyôrffy is part of his strategy of introducing the latter to the world with the help of an internationally-known artist.

`Our greatest problem is that there are no world stars here, among the Hungarian contemporary artists,` said the gallery owner with an expression which spoke of an eagerness to face that challenge rather than just complain about it.

Szalóky is, of course, not the only one to try to promote Hungarian artists beyond the country`s borders. What sets him apart from other gallery owners, however, is his dream of creating an art quarter in Buda much like Falk Miksa utca in Pest, but which specializes in contemporary art.

`I would like this street to become an example and walking on it a true pleasure. If the castle is the cake then let these galleries that lead up to it be its tasty slices which can be ‘consumed` by locals and tourists alike on their walking tour up.`

No mere dream

Although it might take some time before Várfok utca and the area around it becomes an art center buzzing with gallery visitors and trade, Szalóky`s vision is no longer a mere dream.

Since 1990, when he opened the first venue of the Várfok Gallery (at a time when the first wave of private galleries was starting to emerge), six other galleries have slowly but surely opened up in the area. They all culminate in a tiny but pleasant café, Alkoholos Filc Kávézó (which translates as the alcoholic pen), which also belongs to Szalóky - a little corner filled with works of art at one end of Batthyány utca, where it joins Várfok utca.

`There was a pub here before, not one that would do justice to the galleries in the area. I thought to myself: ‘I can`t have this here,` so I rented out the space and changed the whole thing.`

This ebullient man exudes a natural, almost contagious enthusiasm, which, together with patience, has helped him survive many uncertain times in his business, making him among the very few gallery owners who survived those perilous `90s.

`This is a long-term business which develops extremely slowly. If someone wants quick profit, then art dealing is not the right thing to do. In order to gain credibility, you need to make investments and wait for those to mature, you need to be patient and can`t rush through it.`

He also says that Gallery 19, the permanent street exhibit on Várfok utca that was inaugurated by Gilot herself on the day of her and Gyôrffy`s opening, took four years of serious work to materialize. The posters, mounted on solid frames around the 19 trees (hence the name Gallery19), depict the art of some of Budapest`s most established artists, like Levente Baranyai, Attila Kondor, Kinga Hajdú, Milorad Krstic, Emese Bács, and Géza Szôllôsi (see The Budapest Sun, Style Cover, Feb 21), which belong to the Várfok and OctogonArt (which can also be found on Várfok utca) galleries.

`First of all we needed money, and we had to convince the sponsors that this is not only interesting, but also useful, because the trees are protected from the cars and dogs. We can actually change the environment around us for the better, but this is not an easy message to get across.`

Taking contemporary art onto the street certainly marks another important stage in Szalóky`s grand plan of establishing an art quarter.

Although it has been a slow, tough journey, the gallery owner has come a long way since he first started, when enthusiasm and faith made up for his lack of experience and funds.

`At the time I started the gallery, I didn`t need much money; I had strong faith and a Mazda and some savings. I sold the car and did up the gallery with my own hands and with the help of friends. I had many friends who were artists at that time, but none of us knew what being an ‘art manager` meant. We all thought we could change the world together, or at least this is how it seemed sitting around the table in the pub.`

But if that powerful desire to `change the world` might crush many under its weight, Szalóky had the foresight to narrow his world down to Várfok utca, where he has, undoubtedly, made a distinct and admirable difference.

Francoise Gilot`s exhibition of her latest work
Until July 27
Várfok Gallery/ Várfok Room - Várfok utca 14, Buda, District I.
László Gyôrffy - Two Curators Looking for an Umbilical Chord
Until July 30
Várfok Gallery/ XO Room - Várfok utca 11, Buda, District I.
Gallery 19 - look for the posters around the 19 trees along one side of Várfok utca.

Andreea Anca
www.budapestsun.com - Wednesday, June 27, 2007