FRAGILE, Zorzini Gallery, Bucharest, 2015
"The solo show Fragile comprises of new and old artworks alike, all representing Istvan Betuker’s continuous survey of the inner frailness of human existence; also, the exhibition brings into discussion the fragility of the painting as means of expression in itself, explored throughout different technical aspects and approaches of the medium.
Thus, Fragile solo show finally represents an aesthetical exploratory study regarding interiority as seen from a self-perspective as well as from the other I point of view; the paintings unveil a special hidden feeling of Istvan Betuker with regard to either himself or the others, highlighted by a common subject and an existentialist theme and, also a specific preciousness given by the sophisticated artistic manner and the refined execution." (Adina Zorzini)
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EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL, Institute of Contemporary Art - Dunaújváros, 2015
Only a moment of uncertainty perceived, or the uncertainty of a snapshot. We're there or not, the artist and audience – could it affect any process? Will the model change its form if its taken out from the environment in which its familiar with? Will it cause different impressions if – of course on only one painting – it gets maimed or got placed in another demented life situation?
Betuker portraits, nudes record daily moments that could seem a little banal in many cases: a neighbor look-a-like person for example a young woman lying in the bath with cotton balls on her eyes or a man at work. But sometimes we can see absurd situations on canvases beside the realistically depicted scenes – which can make us constantly disappointed and able to keep us restless.
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FORAY INTO ABSTRACT, Bazis Platform, Cluj-Napoca, 2014
The 'Foray into abstract' series shows snapshots of a trip, both literally and metaphorically. The trip explores the territory of the abstract, disputes its provocation, absorbs the possibilities offered by the reductionist tendencies.
This process has an important role in reducing and simplifying the technical solutions to their essence having its prints also in figurative painting. After deconstructions made by formalist approaches, the self-referential feature comes to the front.
The surface and the structure, as points of interest, have priority over the subject: forms and details take shape partly due to the will of the artist, partly due to the hazard. The pictorial elements are organized to create the rhythm of the surface, while the imagery taken from the environment becomes a pretext to obtain valid cadences.
Pictorial gesture can define a subject, while its content will be— inevitably and unconsciously — a result of the visual influences of the environment and the moment.
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EUROPIAN TRAVELLERS - ART FROM CLUJ TODAY, Kunsthalle, Budapest
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THE SLEEPERS, Chiesa Santa Maria di Armenis, Matera, 2011
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BETUKER, White Project, Pescara, 2010
István Betuker was born in 1984 under the Communist regime and grew up in Satu-Mare, Romania. He lives in Cluj Napoca. Even though he is still young, this is why we can sense the anxieties of certain spectres of the past in his painting. His memories of childhood experiences are now coupled with a burning desire to put these tormenting thoughts out of his mind and express the real significance of living in this world, with all its tensions. Amongst other things, he lives in a country still influenced by totalitarian reminiscences, but one which nevertheless offers some flickers of hope and encouragement that are by no means negligible.
In his paintings, he has the ability to convey some of his emotions and some atmospheres through control of his brush and through his expressiveness, which is closely bound to representation. We can see this in his intimate scenes of everyday life, where the anonymous subjects are friends of his who allow us to imagine and enjoy the moments we see before us.
They are always normal people going about their everyday activities, but they are observed with great affection, and indeed show us a sweeping vision of human vulnerability.
Each painting of his appears to have the task of imposing itself as though it were a sort of disturbance that needs to strike the observer, however sweet and tender the figures and colours may be. At first sight the work is just what it portrays, quite randomly, as though this randomness were enough to have us ignore the careful preparation of the event we see. It is almost a consecration of the author's obsessions, desires, and fetishism, obtained in paint as soon as inspiration strikes, with the pleasure of satisfying a need for stylistic solutions, burning in a magical gesture.
With a form of concreteness very different from any aesthetic mediation and delayed sublimation of art, the painting manages to transform the observer's passiveness, making him or her part of a ritual that has nothing to do with the vision or allegory, but simply with what it shows. Indeed, István Betuker's canvases do not ask to be interpreted but simply looked at.
They are generally medium-large in size, almost on the same scale as the observer, and they are strictly frontal, with the chromatic tension and the intention of their colours carefully calculated, sometimes in a similar way in a number of works. (Renato Bianchini)
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