IN THE WAKE OF CARAVAGGIO

IN THE WAKE OF

CARAVAGGIOAn exhibition of oil paintings by Hungarian artist

TAMÁS CSERNA

Th e exhibition will be inaugurated by

H. E. JÁNOS BALLAAmbassador of Hungary to Italy & Malta

and

Dr Mario Tabone

will present the exhibition

on Friday 22nd June 2012 at 19.30 hrsat the Inquisitor’s Palace, Main Gate Street, Birgu

curated, organised and promotedby

Adél Stahlmayer-Kardar

Exhibition will remain open until 19th August 2012

Opening Hours: Monday - Sunday 09:00 – 17:00 hrsInquisitor’s Palace, Main Gate Street, Birgu

R. S. V. P. & Private viewingsemail: adel.stahlmayerkardar@gmail.com

in collaboration with:

sponsored by:Malta

Hungarian Embassy in Rome

Other works by Tamás Cserna can be viewed at the Opus 64 Galerie, Tigne Street, Sliema.

22 June – 19 August 2012Inquisitor’s Palace, Main Gate Street, Birgu

Exhibition dates: 22 June – 19 August 2012 Opening Hours: Monday - Sunday 09:00 – 17:00 hrs

You are invited to join us for the opening ceremony of

More info about ‘In the wake of Caravaggio’ can be found on facebook.com

1967 - July 26, born in Budapest,Hungary

1995 - MA degree from the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, MA Visual Education Program: specialized in teaching artistic drawing, art history and projective geometry in secondary schools. He was a pupil of Pál Gerzson, Márton Magyari and Tibor Kiss.

Prizes:1991 - Barcsay prize2007 - General Assembly prize ofCsongrád County1993 - He was invited by his ex-university teacher; Professor Laszló Patay; who is well-known in Hungary for his large sized mural paintings to paint the frescoes of the Saint Elisabeth Church in Békéscsaba and the Catholic Church in Ráckeve, where he had the opportunity to learn about the different techniques of wall-painting.1995 - Established a workshopcalled “Giornata” specializing inmural paintings, which is very active all over in Hungary.

Since 1992 he works as a freelancepainter and undertakes teachingjobs at several Universities allover in Hungary. As listed below, his works are also on display regularly.

Selected independent exhibitions:2010 - Tető Gallery, Budapest,Hungary2009 - Szabó Ervin Library, Budapest, Hungary 2005 - Jókai Gallery, Budaőrs, Hungary2001 - Bartók 32 Gallery, Budapest, Hungary.

Selected collective exhibitions:2010 - Autumn Exhibition,Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary2005 - Gerbaud Harmincad Gallery, Budapest, Hungary2003 - VAM Design Gallery, Budapest, Hungary 2001 - Kempinski Gallery, Budapest, Hungary1995 - Palazzo Gallery, Budapest,Hungary.

Selected mural works:2002 - The Church of the Virginof Fatima, Budapest, Hungary2000 - The cupola of the Dom,Szeged, Hungary1999 - Café shop of the HotelIntercontinental, Budapest,Hungary1998 - Saint Thomas Church, Martfű, Hungary; Frescoes of the Baptistery 1996 - The Head-Quarters Building of the Hungarian Exchequer of Heves County,Eger, Hungary, Frescoes of the Main Staircase.

A fascinating genre over the centuries: the harmonious arrangement of a few objects; fruits or flowers is capable of rendering ephemeral life timeless and thus immortalizing it. The French “dead nature” (nature morte) seems alive in English (still-life). In Hungarian “csendélet” (“silent life”) creates a life of silence.Through the paintings of Tamás Cserna lost time becomes our time, the scene’s own time. His pictorial quality, his picturesqueness fascinates, his emotional density captivates, encourages meditation.The refinements of shapes, the unusual views, the wonderful broken colours under the pretext of the theatre of an autumnal herbarium or a vegetable garden are for him all tools of this sensory occupation.In the middle of the ballet of zigzagged orange and lemon peels the old-gold apple of decay hangs from the “rigging-loft” of the Creator. On the chequered tablecloth, cloves of garlic, carrots and mushrooms are awaiting their fate in the hungry semi-circle of pots, jugs and amphora. The crowns of pomegranates and the waxy skin of grape bunches preserve the moment of harvest of the ripe fruit.In the works of Tamás Cserna we can feel the pathos of existence through the magical transition of light and shadow, or even through their plastic like collision. Beside the composition, the dramaturge of the spectacle is always this mark of the great masters: the chiaroscuro.“Midway through the journey of our life” (Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita) the painter shares with us a Dantesque urge to live the pain, the loss, the love and belonging. We become part of a mystery play representing the visionary episodes from Jesus Christ’s sufferings. The dignity of the passion play and the sacrificial incomprehensibility of the Pieta scene become the object of a spiritual and pictorial battle. The chaste familiar representation of the biblical figures, the rhythm of the faint body and of the protecting arms, the glimmering of the cowls and of the linens and the hope of the light shining through the shroud elevate our experience to the testimonials of Caravaggio and Rembrandt.The expressive physical-spiritual pantomimes of the figures also associated with shame and penitence in the Old Testament (Adam & Eve), or with the joy of life in Greek mythology (Bacchus) are witness canvases, which are glorious supports of classic messages.This fresh selection of Tamás Cserna’s work is a veritable milestone. The play of light and shadow for all of us: Passion and Pastorals.Perhaps with the words of Saint Paul on his last journey, sailing to Rome as a prisoner and shipwrecked in Malta: we see through a glass, darkly.But as these paintings also affirm: love never fails.Dr Miklós BendzselPresident of Hungarian Intellectual Property Office

Tamás Csernapainter, art teacher

Biography

Still Life With Big Checked Spread, 110x150cm, oil on canvas

Eve, 96x125cm, oil on canvas

ChiaroscuroPassion and Pastorale