László Fehér

Born in 1953 in Székesfehérvár (Hungary), László Fehér is considered one of the most important representatives of Hungarian figurative painting. He studied at Budapest’s Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in 1976. From the mid-1970s onwards, he produced photorealistic works that reflected both the desolateness of urban life and the tense atmosphere of dictatorship. By the early 1980s, his paintings began to include increasingly expressive colours. Childhood and past trauma were important themes, and the artist often uses family photographs as a starting point. Throughout the years, his palette gradually narrowed to include only two or three colours, used both in confrontation and in combination. He has been creating his “iron drawings” since 1990 – on these sculptural works his isolated, transparent figures step out to the physical space.

Certain archetypal motifs constitute ongoing and recurring themes in his work, such as stairs, water and houses. Despite their mystical content, these motifs retain their everyday character and spontaneity. Although the dominant colours in his work have changed over the years, its unchanging essence, the message, is an intricate relationship between the human figure and its surroundings: emotionally complex, often visually shocking, and at once harmonious and disharmonious. Today, his works are found in many private and public collections, in Hungary and around the world. He lives and works in Budapest and Tác.