"With Bashful Longing, Dead Sober"

In September 2003 the acb Contemporary Art Gallery presents the artworks of four artists. Each of the works represents human figures in an obscure, uncertain context. The photographs, videos, sculptures, and paintings tell stories, lead the viewer into a narrative that is never expressed clearly. The title of the show  - "With Bashful Longing, Dead Sober" - cited from Janos Térey's masterpiece, Paulus, refers to the melancholy of these enigmatic works. The Portuguese Rui Bastos was born in 1971, he lives and works in Berlin, Germany, and Lisbon, Portugal. The black-and-white videos of Bastos are descendants of the surrealist films from the first half of the 20. A century and also refer to detective movies. The mysterious stories are short, perfectly edited, and captures the viewer's fantasy. Hideki Iinuma is from Japan, he was born in Nagano in 1975, lives and works in Nantes, France. At the acb Gallery he exhibits wooden, painted sculptures that represent young, sexy girls. Iinuma takes color photographs of the sculptures, usually in an industrial environment. In the pictures the girls appear as characters of Italian neo-realist movies, on the other hand, they clearly refer to the Japanese manga- and anime movies and cartoons. The Czech Marketa Othova was born in Brno in 1968, lives and works in Prag, Czech republic. Her large-format, black-and-white protographs are usually simple compositions containing only a few numbers of elements. She observes from a great distance the characters of the pictures, whose stories remain mysterious. Othova's works appear as film-stills from never-made movies. Ákos Szoló is one of the most promising painters of the generation of emerging artists in Hungary. He was born in 1977 in Budapest, Hungary. His figurative paintings also remind the viewer of the world of movies: man and woman, sometimes realistically represented, sometimes only the blur shape emerge from the mist.

opening speech by: János Térey, poet

* The title is a quotation from Paulus, a poetry book of János Térey (Palatinus, Budapest, 2001, p.115.) by the permission of the author

about acb:

acb, which is a gallery trading with contemporary fine art commenced its operation in a flat in Budapest on 22 February 2003. Its first exhibition introduced artists whose works define the future profile of the gallery. One of the primary objectives of acb is to create a circle of collectors who regard the tendencies of contemporary fine art and closely follow the different achievements of autonomous artistic creativity and innovation, independent of the genre, technique, or the materials of the works. acb is determined to introduce Hungarian artists abroad and foreign artists on the Hungarian market, as we believe it is imperative that Hungarian artists be present internationally and that Hungarian art play a more intensive part in the world of contemporary art. Along with certain institutes of art, acb wishes to participate in projects which aim at enriching the world and improving the positions of contemporary fine art,  and which also wish to modernize the institutional framework of art.

partners and supporters of acb: Irokéz Collection, In Vino Veritas, Frutta Elettronica, Műcsarnok Bistro, Timp Kft., Radó Gábor