
Gizella Varga Sinai
Born in 1944,
Hungary
Studied at the Akademie
fuer Angewandte
Kunst, Vienna, Austria
Moving to
Iran in 1967
Member of the
Dena Group and Society of Iranian Painters
Teaching painting and conducting workshops inside and outside of Iran since
1980.
Exhibitions:
19 Solo Exhibitions in
Austria, Finland, Hungary, Georgia and Iran.
Over 150 Group
Exhibitions in China, UAE, Tunisia, USA, Finland,
Portugal, Belgium, The Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Poland,
France, Norway, Switzerland and India.
Museum
Collection Pieces:
George
Pompidou Center, Paris
Damjanich
Janos Museum , Szolnok (Hungary)
Museum of
Contemporary Art, Tehran
Quran Museum,
Tehran
Pasargad Bank Art Collection, Tehran
Awards:
1977 Prize at
the 'Ayeneh-dar-Ayeneh' exhibition, Tehran
2011 Parallel
Cultural Awards, Mediawave Festival, Hungary
2014
Hungarian Order of Merit Officer's Cross, Hungary
TRAVEL BOOK
An Anthology of Works from 1968 till present
1 - From
West to East (1968-1977) The first several exhibitions
since my arrival in Iran reflected my impressions of the Iranian people and the
common life - a butcher, a shoemaker, a peddler, a carpet-seller, street
musicians, and scenes of the bazaar.
2 - Blind
Dolls (1980) Inspired by a verse by Omar
Khayyam, "we are the puppets and the universe is the puppeteer...", in Blind
Dolls one can see people aging, yet the passing of time has not etched any
wrinkles on the dolls' faces. They have lost their crystal eyes, appearing
blind, yet maintaining their smile on motionless lips, as if believing the
works of the verse, "Sit by the flower, for it has risen from the earth and is
buried in it a hundred times".
3 - Echo
of Silence (1986) "In the depths of millenniums,
the stillness of ruins, and the silence of images, there is a meaningful echo:
Beware! History is made by you and me; by us!" In "Echo of Silence", the images
on stone tell the story of man in the passage of time; warriors, horses,
lovers. I believe that life calmly, yet determinedly, wins over the passage of
time and thus existence and non-existence are tightly interwoven. We know that
world histories will exist in great circles of the ever-repeating life.
4 - The
South and its Masks (1999-2000) In 1997, I suddenly discovered
and became fascinated by the nature and the people of Southern Iran; Bandar
Abbas, Hormoz Island, Qeshm. The women with masks and colorful dresses reminded
me of stories about Odyssey's journeys, the sirens, and of Neptune, god of the
Seas. The people of the Persian Gulf continue to live with their tales and
myths, just as they have done for many years. The mask conceals, but it also
recalls the immortality of human beings, womanhood, and the sea.
5 - Images
and Walls (1989, 2003, 2005) In "Images and walls", dolls and
stone reliefs are transformed into paintings on cracked plaster of old walls.
Lovers, Warriors, legendary beauties and beasts are only faded images. Yet
again, beside each one, a flower, a thorny bush, a dove, herald the
continuation of life, all of which express my homage to life.
6 - Travel
Diary - Safar Nameh (2005-present) As if it was an unending spring,
I feel my Hungarian past - my childhood. Those images are now re-appearing in
my works. Poems, calligraphy, symbols, forms, icons, old documents and
miniatures merge into surreal experiences of my never-ending travel.
7-
Flower Garden with Birds (2009-2011) "Gol-o-Morgh" for me is
a metaphore for the paradise which we have lost since childhood. This desire
appears in positive and negative forms: once as idyllic, innocent, and full of
hope, just as we had believed in it. Another time, in the midst of its beauty,
we are suddenly scared and threatened by a fear. This paradise is something we
know, we love and yet we fear... something we call LIFE.
WITH KHAYYAM
A selection of 25 prints from the series Images and
Walls (1989, 2003, 2005)
In my homeland, Hungary, Turkish miniatures spread during the Ottoman era,
and their impact can still be traced in our culture today. Since I was young, I
was fascinated by these miniatures. After I arrived to Iran, I realized that
Iranian miniatures were technically more delicate and thematically more
lyrical. My admiration grew even greater as I saw frescoes in the Palace of
Forty Columns (Chehel Sotoun) and in the King's Palace (Ali Ghapou) in Isfahan.
My work is mostly mythological, and these faded frescoes inspired me to do
a new series: images and walls. Since then, I have often returned to this
theme.
In the faded frescoes of these palaces one can see the faded gardens of
paradise with flowers, trees, and beautiful people in eternal youth sitting,
playing music, loving and enjoying themselves in their idyllic world.
As a painter, I could follow my fantasies and moods to create new images,
destroy, blur, or fade them, and thereby demonstrate my ideas of a paradise
lost.
I dedicate this collection of paintings to the memory of the
great philosopher OMAR KHAYYAM whose mental world has always been a source of
inspiration to me.
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