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EN Visiting period: 11th of July – 5th of September 2025
Curator of the exhibition: Katalin Nagy T.
Opening: The exhibition was opened on the 11th of July 2025 at 6 pm by Katalin Nagy T., art historian and curator of the exhibition and Beáta Bordás PhD., Transylvanian Art Centre’s coordinator in the presence of the artist, who closed the opening event with a performance.
This exhibition is the artist’s first comprehensive, representative show, presenting works from almost two decades since 2006, ranging from large-scale installations to smaller-scale copper sculptures. The title of the exhibition, Copperhensible, refers both to the material the sculptor prefers to work with, through mechanical processes such as bending, embossing and cutting, and to the aesthetic qualities that are most evident in Makkai’s sculpture, namely humour, irony and its conceptual nature.
István MAKKAI (Târgu Mureș, 1983)
István Makkai finished high school in 2002 at the Secondary School of Music and Fine Arts in Târgu Mureș, after that, he studied Sculpture at the University of Art and Design from Cluj-Napoca, completing his master’s degree in 2008. He is a member of the Romanian Artists’ Union (since 2009), the Barabás Miklós Guild (since 2008) and the MAMŰ Society (since 2023). He is a regular participant in group exhibitions and art colonies at home and abroad. He has received numerous awards in recent years. Some of his works are found in the collections of the MARe Museum of Recent Art in Bucharest, the Sapientia Foundation (Transylvanian Art Centre, Sfântu Gheorghe), the Haáz Rezső Museum in Odorheiu Secuiesc, and the Lăzarea Cultural and Art Center.
Makkai works with different materials, but in his sculpture he prefers to use brass and copper. Another characteristic feature of his sculpture is his humorous, ironic or even playful approach to things, furthermore his works frequently involve the viewer in a conceptual situation, encouraging the visitor to become an active part of the often surreal situation created by the artist (Hat Dimension; Hommage à René Magritte; Half-fish). It is a direct consequence of his fascination with creating situations that he also prefers to use the genres of installation (Pure Copper), kinetic art (Field Dimension) or video (Restless Mass) to add new layers of meaning to the unique plastic solutions in a performative field. His sculptural stories reflect a sophisticated thinking that results in unusual solutions. His works respond sensitively to events in everyday life, to historical and social issues and to concerns about the preservation of nature.
Solo exhibitions:
2017: The Field-dimension. K’Arte Gallery, Târgu Mureș • 2019: Dimensions. Szféra Festival, Târgu Mureș (with Gábor Hunor Veress) • 2020: MO(NU)MENT. K’Arte Gallery, Târgu Mureș; Christmas Zoom (Winter Games). K’Arte Gallery, Târgu Mureș • 2022 / 2023: The Occupation of Reality. Bernády House, Târgu Mureș and County Hall Gallery in Miercurea Ciuc (with Gábor Hunor Veress) • 2025: Életköz. A mű útjai [Middle of Life. The Paths of the Work]. Parthenon-Frieze Hall, Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest
Organizers: Sfântu Gheorghe City Hall, Transylvanian Art Centre Association
Sponsor: Hungarian Government – State Secretary for National Policy, Bethlen Gábor Fund
