Erik Mátrai is known in Hungary and abroad for inventing a special medium in which he combines the most up-to-date digital technology with a form of representation having a long history.  The artist places intelligent LCD monitors, that have a memory chip and don't need a player to be attached to them, into wooden boxes reminiscent of the intimate size and character of icons. On these monitors, one can see looped short films designed with digital collage technique which present the stations of the Passion of Christ one by one. The scenes that follow traditional compositional schemes are easy to read, are made up of very few characters and little action. The slow-motion and the repetition of the small-scaled movements have a peculiar effect on the beholder. One becomes the witness of a miracle: the icons representing the fourteen steps come to life in the obscurity of the church.

Beginning on April 18^th, 2007, this series entitled Crossroads was exhibited in a special location belonging to the Vatican in Rome: the Church of Ss. Bartolomeo (e Alessandro) dei Bergamaschi, Piazza Colonna, Rome.

For this exhibition, Erik Mátrai created site-specific installations for acb Gallery. His works, as always, are special because of the parallel presence of manual and digital techniques. Two of the gallery spaces are overtaken by huge installations. Both are based on very simple mechanisms but have an overwhelming effect. 

These sensitive, mediative works are accompanied by a group of smaller ones focused on the search for beauty and love and its shabby symbol, Venus.