Plank Antal
Purple Blend 2022
Cairo Contemporary, Budapest
1071 Budapest, Lövölde tér 7.
2023.10.05-29.
The main inspirations for Hungarian visual artist, Antal Plank, are the graffiti and various street art forms. What meant a kind of fun and rebel idea for him as a teenager, the experience gained during academic years turned it to a new and exciting journey, where all that he was interested in could finally blended. The fluidity, dynamism and weight of graffiti works can make new sense and new dimension in the space.
“Street art effects people, possesses energy, represents a lifestyle, yet it calls everyone. - I think this is what attracted me in it.”
Antal Plank has gradually turned from block-like, organic forms to crystal- and origami-like shapes built from planes; and currently he is also experimenting with pinking and the void. He is playing with the tension and balance of forms and colours, proportions, planes and polygons.
Seeing his works, most viewers associate to some kind of creature, movement or swing, which collate to the intention of the artist. He never gives exact description to his works, as he is curious the feedback of others, and see how the “space game” works.
Antal Plank started as a stonemason and decoration sculpture to continue family tradition. In 2007, he was admitted to the Hungarian Academy of Arts, where first he was interested mainly in minimalistic, robust, industrial form. In his third and forth year, he started to adopt his graffiti sketches for the space, or use the space itself to visualise this style. This is what he is still interested in.
The Steel Sculptural and Fine Arts Symposium of Kecskemét, the program he joins regularly, had a great influence on his work. Currently, he is th artist of Godot Labor Gallery and head of the sculpture workshop at the Hungarian Academy of Arts.
Curator: Gábor Pintér
Supported by Erzsébetváros Municipality - Cultural District Catalyst Grant
Cooperation partner: Bischitz Johanna Integrated Human Service Centre
instagram.com/Cairo.Contemporary