X̣, a solo exhibition by Ferenc Gróf explores the connections between the human body and the written form of characters and texts utilizing the works realized in the past year from a series of tipographical experiments. Gróf’s working method could most aptly be described as xenography. The original Greek expression xenos can stand for guest and host, as well as for stranger and friend, but the verb gráphō also has multiple meanings: to draw, to write, or to scratch. According to the spiritual tradition xenography is writing in a language unknown to the writer. On the title page of Thomas More’s Utopia, first published five hundred years ago, beside a map of an imaginary country a utopian alphabet can also be seen. New world, new people, new writing system: Utopiensium Alphabetum. What does their hierographic origin say about modern fonts? The eponymous character, the x with a dot below is part of the extended latin alphabet used in transliterations and in various languages now extinct, but it can also be interpreted as a pictogram: a symbol of a falling person. The mise-en-scène of early modern anatomical theatre underlie the display of works. As accents and punctuation in a text of a utopia that has to be reconsidered, the typefaces lie ready for dissection.

Ferenc Gróf (1972) as a member of the Société Réaliste group has created a peculiar toolkit from linguistic and typographic elements, statistics and cartographic signs to examine social processes and to exhibit correlations between past and present. He preserved this approach and vision even after the dissolution of the artist group. His work considers ideological footprints, at the intersection of graphic design and spatial experiences.

Supported by

French Institute in Budapest

The exhibition is a collaboration between acb Gallery and the OFF-Biennale Association.