Born in Élsed, Romania in 1975, Zsolt Bodoni’s art practice references his childhood living under the collapse of communist rule in Eastern Europe. Reoccurring images of somber factory workers and instruments of war are juxtaposed against icons of classical beauty and art to expose the reality of communism’s false utopia. Using hazy washes of paint in the manner of Gerhard Richter, Bodoni’s memories are layered on his canvas; a photomontage of disparate flashbacks unified vis-à-vis his dark impressionistic palette. Receiving his MFA from the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest, Bodoni demonstrates a thorough comprehension of classical mythology and the canons of art history throughout his oeuvre. This cathartic remembrance of Romania’s tyrannical past is not without hope as the artist includes symbols of rebirth flooded with swathes of light.

Zsolt Bodoni has been exhibited internationally including the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Brussels, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, the Prague Biennale amongst others.

ZSOLT BODONI

Born 1975 Élesd, Romania. Lives and works in Budapest, Hungary

EDUCATION

2000       BFA Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2015       The Shining Path, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2013       King Give Us Soldiers, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2011       Remastered, Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy

Gods and Mortals, Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2010       Fehérlófia, Son of the White Mare, Ana Cristea Gallery, New York, NY

2009       The Foundries of Ideology, Ana Cristea Gallery, New York, NY

Yesterday’s Heroes, Tomorrow’s Fools, Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2008       Monuments, FA Projects, London, UK

Art Factory Gallery, Budapest, Hungary

2006       Hungarian Cultural Institute, Bruxelles, Belgium

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2015       THE NUDE in the XX & XXI CENTURY, S|2 Gallery, London, UK

2014       Turning Points, The Twentieth Century Through 1914, 1939, 1989 and 2004, Hungarian National Gallery, Buda Palace, Budapest, Hungary

Defaced, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO

This Side of Paradise, S|2 Gallery, London, UK

2013       Nightfall, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic

Budapest Tales, Scheublein Fine Art, Zurich, Switzerland

2012       Nightfall, MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen, Hungary

Referencing History, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2011       East Ex East, Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy

Prague Biennale 5, Prague, Czech Republic

Leipzig Walkabout, Ana Cristea Gallery invited by Galerie Eigen + Art, Leipzig, Germany

Art Los Angeles Contemporary (with Mihai Nicodim Gallery), Los Angeles, CA

2010       Uncertain Terrain, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN

After the Fall, HVCCA, Peekskill, NY

Year One, Ana Cristea Gallery, New York, NY

Bad Industry, Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Face Your Demons, Milliken Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden

In Standard Time, Ana Cristea Gallery, New York, NY

2009      Show Me a Hero, Calvert 22, London, UK

Staging the Grey, Prague Biennale, Prague, Czech Republic

2008      15 Hungarian and Romanian Painters, Plan B, Cluj, Romania

Portraits of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, FA Projects, London, UK

2007       Ernst Múzeum, Budapest, Hungary

2006       Art Colony of Élesd, Strasbourg EU Parliament, France

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND PRESS

2014       This Side of Paradise, exhibition catalogue, ed. By Jane Neal. S|2 Gallery. London, UK

2013       Nightfall – New Tendencies in Figurative Painting, exhibition catalogue, ed. By Jane Neal. Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic

Kalsi, Jyoti. “An Investigation Of Power Games.” Gulf News. January 24, 2013 “Hungarian painter Zsolt Bodoni in Dubai.” Time Out Dubai.                         January 15, 2013

2012       Neal, Jane. “What Lies Beneath.” Flash Art. July-September 2012 Remastered exhibition catalogue, interview of Jane Neal. Brand New Gallery,                 Milan, Italy

2011       “After the Fall.” New York Times. 2011

2010       Sicha, Choire. “The 23 Must-Buy Artists of the 2010 Miami Art Fairs.” The Awl, web. December 6th, 2010

Chambers, Christopher. “Like a Rolling Stone: Alexander Esters,

Peter Gerakaris, Justen Ladda, and Gallery Artists at Ana Cristea Gallery in New York.” Dart International. No 27, Fall 2010

After the Fall exhibition catalogue. HVCCA, New York, 2010

2009       “Back to Storage.” Harper’s Bazaar. November 2009: P.17 Taubman, Lara. “Zsolt Bodoni at Mihai Nicodim.” Art in America. October 2009:                            PP.175-176.

“Top 100 Emerging Artists.” Flash Art international. October 2009: PP.52-53

2008       Exley, Roy. “Zsolt Bodoni, FA Projects – London.” Flash Art. November-December 2008

Rudkin, Joe. “Portraits of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” Flavorpill London, 2008

NOTABLE COLLECTIONS

SPM (Salsali Private Museum), Dubai, UAE

Susan and Michael Hort, New York, NY

The Mallin Collection, New York, NY

The Blake Byrne Collection, Los Angeles, CA

Zoe and Joel Dictrow Collection, New York, NY

The Craig Robins Collection, Miami, FL

Whitespace: The Mordes Collection, West Palm Beach, FL

Jimenez-Colon Collection, Ponce, PR