Introducing the solo exhibition of Péter Tamás Halász with the artist’s own thoughts: „There has been the axe for 50.000 years.  Although during the history of mankind other tools and phenomena have evolved like the sword, the bow, Renaissance, humanism, gun powder, supersonic bomb, democracy, Bauhaus, digitalisation… we still have the axe. The Earth is rotating, but the axis is the same: »Cain is the ruler of the planet«, as Lipót Szondi writes.”

The artist started to work with the axe as an object and axe-throwing as a potential artistic gesture after reading an absurd article about axe-throwing as a sport. In his slightly earlier works, the artist twisted this aggressive gesture in many ways, creating axe versions of high-tech companies’ logos, and thus highlighting the coexisting contrast between today’s technology and the ancient but ever actual use of basic tools.

Furthermore, as a theoretical plot for the present exhibition, Halász states that the design culture of contemporary logos is also a depositary of twentieth century abstract art. It is no wonder that Halász’s newest works reflect on the international classics of hard-edge and minimalism from the turn of 1960s and 1970s. The pieces are being redefined by Halász in the form of wooden panels with axes that also become the leitmotif, as well as the ironic playfield of the works indicating that the hard edges had been fabricated also with an axe... Péter Tamás Halász (1969) graduated at the painting class of Dóra Maurer at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. His artistic career, spanning more than two decades is built on solid neo-conceptual ground. The artist counterpoints the instinctive sensual effects of his objects and installations with the rational almost engineer-like logics of conceptual art practices. In his earlier works, Halász had frequently been occupied with the formal and psychological effects and phenomena of light and mirrors. He is also regularly returning to the topic of environmentalism and sustainability. His large scale installation entitled Wood Destroyer has just recently integrated the collection of Ludwig Museum, Budapest.