Retrospective exhibition of Gergely István

In his lifetime, the sculptor organized only a few solo exhibitions, the last one being opened in 2003 at the Korunk Gallery in Cluj-Napoca. After his passing, one smaller exhibition presented his works in 2009 at Oradea. This year, the Transylvanian Art Centre organized an important retrospective exhibition which presented works from all of the sculptor’s artistic periods – and now, the material of this exhibition returned “home”, to be shown at the Art Museum of Cluj-Napoca.

A significant part of Gergely’s oeuvre consists of the patinated plasterboard plaques that create a unique genre which crosses the boundaries between graphics and sculpture, thus builds an independent artistic language and can be read in the key of a special system of symbols. In the present exhibition, these abstract plaques, which still bear the power of novelty, are emphasized, but at the same time the exhibition recalls the pantheon of outstanding figures of Hungarian culture in Transylvania created by István Gergely, as well as some of his early works. 

Born at Cozmeni, the young István Gergely was discovered by Pál Nagy, and later studied as a student of Márton Izsák at the High School of Music and Fine Arts in Târgu Mureș, where he graduated in 1958. He then continued his studies at the sculpture department of the Ion Andreescu College of Fine Arts in Cluj, his masters were Artur Vetro, András Kós and Nándor Balaskó. He graduated from there in 1964. Between 1964 and 1990 he was a secondary school drawing teacher in Cluj, but in addition to his pedagogical work he also worked hard to develop his career as an artist. His works can be found in various institutions and public spaces from Romania (Oradea, Sfântu Gheorghe, Cluj-Napoca etc.)

Curators of the exhibition: Bordás Beáta, Gergely Zoltán