Kingdom of Orphans

Ádám Horváth

Curated by Gvantsa Jishkariani and Ellene Kapanadze

At The Why Not Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia

June 03 — 21, 2022

Photography by Sandro Sulaberidze

Untitled

Will you stick with me if I leave, I wonder?
If I can’t find my place, I’ll do it with you?
If I can’t fill my goblet, will you fill it with your blood?
Will we still have a place under the trees, will there be more shade where the secret lurks?
Here I am, Here I stand, I glance outwards, I glance inwards, I grip a bunch and fall under the ground.

— Ádám Horváth

The Why Not Gallery is glad to present Adam Horvath solo show ‘Kingdom of Orphans’.

The artist visually divides the exhibition space into two parts and presents supposed remnants of a fictional medieval civilisation. The inhabitants have disappeared and left behind their precious material values.

They have disappeared without us knowing any reason for that.

‘The show’s intent is to examine how nature and civilization interact, and what happens when suddenly, one or the other disappears from the picture.

To what extent do flora-fauna return to pre-human conditions, or does it return at all?
Would humans be able to create a new path for the next generation instead of devouring natural resources? Is the relationship between man and nature so strong that an unfilled space would emerge after one disappears?

I have no intention of answering the above questions, there is no guidance, an advanced scenario for a disaster that has already occurred. I depict theatrical scenes with a slight distance, while also considering the possibilities of personal rehabilitation’- writes Adam Horvath.

The exhibition brings together Horvath’s body of work where mystical and magical intertwine and produce excellently executed complex imagery. The inspiration for Horvath’s oeuvre is as complex and multifaceted as the works themselves are.
Horvath brought up in rural Hungary, is deeply inspired by the ancient archeological sites that come back as flashbacks from his childhood. That is combined with his deep fascination with nature, to the point that he once considered to become a botanist; flora indeed often serves as the first point of departure for his artworks. Science fiction, as well as deep interconnectedness with his generation’s collective unconscious, manifest in recurring musings on the relationship between humans and nature, feelings of vulnerability and longing, trauma and healing. Horvath converts these experiences into his personal mythology and offers little poetic clues for desciphering.

In the post-pandemic world shocked by the sudden and shocking changes, the show cannot help but question what would we as a society leave behind had we gone extint?!

— The Why Not Gallery

Exhibition view
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
We Rest Deeply When the Fire Comes Acrylic on canvas 120x150cm 2022
Untitled (Poem, written by: Ádám Horváth) Digital print on fabric, sharpened wooden sticks 90x250cm 2022
Untitled (Poem, written by: Ádám Horváth) Digital print on fabric, sharpened wooden sticks 90x250cm (detail) 2022
Bond of Emptiness Acrylic on canvas 50x60cm 2022
There is No Place for The Winds Under My Wings Acrylic on canvas 90x70cm 2022
Garden of Absence Acrylic on canvas 90x70cm 2022
When The Candles Fall Asleep We Will Resurrect Acrylic on canvas 120x150cm, 2022
To Reign in The Ruins of Promises XPS, silicone, acrylic cement, acrylic paint, laquer, artificial jewellery, driftwood, soil, dried wavyleaf sea lavender, straw, wooden branch, digital print on fabric Object size: 40x30x33cm Installation size: 3,5mx1,7mx1,8m 2022
To Reign in The Ruins of Promises XPS, silicone, acrylic cement, acrylic paint, laquer, artificial jewellery, driftwood, soil, dried wavyleaf sea lavender, straw, wooden branch, digital print on fabric Object size: 40x30x33cm Installation size: 3,5mx1,7mx1,8m (detail) 2022
To Reign in The Ruins of Promises XPS, silicone, acrylic cement, acrylic paint, laquer, artificial jewellery, driftwood, soil, dried wavyleaf sea lavender, straw, wooden branch, digital print on fabric Object size: 40x30x33cm Installation size: 3,5mx1,7mx1,8m (detail) 2022
To Reign in The Ruins of Promises XPS, silicone, acrylic cement, acrylic paint, laquer, artificial jewellery, driftwood, soil, dried wavyleaf sea lavender, straw, wooden branch, digital print on fabric Object size: 40x30x33cm Installation size: 3,5mx1,7mx1,8m (detail) 2022
To Reign in The Ruins of Promises XPS, silicone, acrylic cement, acrylic paint, laquer, artificial jewellery, driftwood, soil, dried wavyleaf sea lavender, straw, wooden branch, digital print on fabric Object size: 40x30x33cm Installation size: 3,5mx1,7mx1,8m (detail) 2022
To Reign in The Ruins of Promises XPS, silicone, acrylic cement, acrylic paint, laquer, artificial jewellery, driftwood, soil, dried wavyleaf sea lavender, straw, wooden branch, digital print on fabric Object size: 40x30x33cm Installation size: 3,5mx1,7mx1,8m (detail) 2022

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