Brief Comments on Eszter Tari’s PicturesGábor Kovács

“Everything you can imagine is real.” /Pablo Picasso/

CREATIVE VISUALIZATION

Brief Comments on Eszter Tari’s Pictures

Gábor Kovács

In contrast with works of art interpretation is always tentative, it can be open, inspiring, and encouraging further research, or, to the contrary, it can be summary, simplifying, even enforced and far-fetched. Eszter Tari’s pictures have multiple meanings and they suggest mystery from time to time, therefore they allow for numerous interpretative possibilities. For this reason I intend to highlight only the elements that seem to be emphatic. At first sight, what is apparent in Eszter Tari’s pictures is heraspiration for presentness and the creation of transformation; presentness in the sense that we get in touch with reality, and transformation in the hope that we get closer to the secret, the internal structure of reality.

1. Communal Spirit, 2003

Communal Spirit, 2003 The diagonal composition of this picture (the crossing of paths) suggestsa certain direction of rotation, by which means all this might be the “imprint”of the evolutional spiral of a single person. The shoes as relics may symbolize,among others, a whole family - or a diferent kind of community - fromchildhood to adulthood, and the communal spirit (is there such a thing?)if there is one, manifests itself in our relationships, in the best case scenarioin a partnership, or in a less felicitous case in super- and subordination.

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The colour of the red background tending towards orange spreadsonto the children’s shoes that are arranged in radial symmetry, highlightingthe dominant motif of the picture, the tiger-striped shoe which casts ashadow. This latter pictorial object determines the ironic and playful ratherthan unpleasant tone based on strong colour effects by “trampling down”the other shoes. The plastic symbolism is manifested directly in variousshades of meaning, which is a characteristic feature of Eszter Tari’s pictures.

2. Vishnu’s Toe, 2003

Vishnu’s Toe, 2003 In spite of its simplicity various associations are implied in thispicture. Even its title and the spectacle are in an intriguing contrast with oneanother. Instead of Vishnu’s toe what the spectator sees is only the point of akhaki boot applied onto the picture and nearly blending into it as if it werea relief element of a terrain traversed by the sacred rivers of the Himalayas;one of these rivers being the Vishnu Ganga, which also symbolizes Vishnu,God’s manifestation in his creative aspect. There are multiple referencesto reality looked at from afar, to a world rich in mysteries which remainsforeverforeigntothesuperficialspectatorandevokesmerelyamap,justlikethe homeland for an outsider in Miklós Radnóti’s poem “I cannot know”.

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3. Guardian Spirit, 2003

Max Ernst, “The Angel of Hearth and Home”, “L’Ange du foyer”, 1937

Guardian Spirit, 2003 It is a surrealistic collage radiating brute force. The mixture oftransformation and plastic symbolism produces clearly a type of picturein which a peculiar kind of magic realism is incorporated. Magic because ittransforms magically. It is realist because it imparts an internal, hidden, andpersonally experienced reality with elemental force. At the same time it has acritical edge, just like Max Ernst’s painting, entitled The Angel of the Hearthand Home (1937) on account of its similar dynamics, construction from thecombination of internal resistance and free natural force (see the at oncerustic and ethereal motif of the shoe split in halves). But while Max Ernst’srebellion is typically masculine, in Eszter Tari’s pictures the other pole, thematriarchal natural force bursts forth. This harsh, rebellious force can befelt in The Guardian Spirit as well as in another picture of hers, entitled Life.

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Ursa Major, 2003 This picture perfectly exemplifi es the process of consistentlyimplemented transformation. As a result, it implies numerous interpretativepotentials. The motif of the shoe elevated into the cosmic dimension in itsconcrete objectivity seems to dissolve in the interstellar space. The shoe(or rather boot?) applied onto the picture as a transformed ordinary objectis able to symbolize not only human fallibility but also the eternal humandilemma, the desire of the mortal for unifying with the immortal. This bold“glance-over” already appeared in Eszter Tari’s range of subjects in anearlier work entitled Love. See: the kinship of love, death, and meditation.

4. Ursa Major, 2003

Ursa Major, Star Chart

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Lifestream, 2000 The dynamic composition of this picture is an archetype of non-figurative representationsbelonging to the topicof the “great stream”.Thehumanfiguresdepictedinasimilarpose-withtheirheadslowered,half-kneeling and -lying - fall into the great stream of birth and deathwhose aim and direction are the greatest mystery for the immortal.

5. Lifestream, 2000

6. Love, 2001

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Love, 2001 Love is the moment of awakening with its inherent potential for perfecttransformation in which unifying may occur. This is being symbolized bythe compositional form of the circle. In the circle there is no ‘you’ or ‘I’, onlynon-duality prevails in which one may discover his/her original face. Thecircular composition also suggests that in love one’s whole personality takespart. The momentum where the two interlocking and intertwined draperiescomplementoneanotherincolouraswell(blue–reddishorange)confirmsand underlies the elevating process of the transformation of parts into a whole.

7. Tumble, 2001, Comics I-II, 2001

Tumble, 2001, Comics I-II, 2001 These works form a peculiar series, or at least they belong together.As a matter of fact they are sketches which catch one’s eye due to theirsimplicity and unpretentious ordinariness. In their making few tools andaltogether some tones were applied, with shades of the black-and- whitescale very loosely pencilled, preserving thereby their original freshness.Because of their character there is no trace of aspiration for lastingness -this is signalled by the fact that wrapping paper (?) was used as a base, andin addition to the momentary impression its evocative power can affect us.

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8. Life, 2004

Life, 2004 Eszter Tari is very resourceful in transforming and changing our articlesfor personal use in order to undermine the constraint of the everyday ideasassociated with them and in creating aesthetic objects or phenomena withentirelydifferentmeanings;thisiswellexemplifiedbythepictureentitledLife. The matching title with it s all-embracing meaning enables the receivingpublic to interpret the content aspects of the work according to their ownintentions, yet in this particular case it can al so help the viewer‘s interpretationby playing the role of a “verbal antitoxin”. That is, the artist, with her customaryplayfulness, seems to suggest that Life as reality is always different from whatwe generally think about the nature of things, or presume to know about them.

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9. Study to “The Intrigues”, 2006

Study to “The Intrigues”, 2006 The drapery arranged tidily on the chair is not made interesting eitherby the adjustment which brings out the " neness of detail, or even by theevocation of the forms of the ancient Greek statues (torsos) with its clothes-like folds, but rather by the dominance of its peculiar world of colours. Thisworld, which reminds one of the “eosinish” china sculptures, is capable oftransforming all our previous assumptions concerning drapery. Furthermore,this transformation is supported by a de" nite orientation with the help ofthe plural form of the word “intrigue” in the title: Study to” The Intrigues”.To understand the relevance of the irony suggested here it is worthwhile tocompare the painting with Bertalan Székely’s work entitled Young Girls(drapery study). With its clinical academism the latter may be regarded asan excellent counterpoint of Eszter Tari’s powerful subjectivism. She achievesthis to the point of taking the risk of ugliness, even using it as an instrument.

Bertalan Székely, Young Girls (drapery study)

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10. Indonesian Cat, 2007

Indonesian Cat, 2007 As a matter of fact, this painting might be a hidden, or masked self-portrait as well, in other words, it is one of the artistic masks of Eszter Tari,since it incorporates everything that is needed for the preservation andfunctioning of the boisterous ego (or rather, artistic character) of the painter.

11. Imajinasi V., 2007Imajinasi V., 2007This is a painting which abounds in glowing hot colours and mythical forms.

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The commentator cannot help relying on his free associations andimagination (imajinasi in Indonesian): Life is like a fairytale - Hidup adalahdongeng - in which we fail to perceive that after all we are the designers andcreators of our own fates. I think that one of the messages of Imajinasi (whoknows how many more it has?) can be summarized in a magic formula, borrowed from Eliphas Levi: You must have “the human head, in order to possess speech; the eagle’s wings, in order to scale the heights; the bull’sflanks,inordertofurrowdepths;thelion’stalons,tomakeawayon the right and left, before and behind”.

Simbion I-IV. 2009. Pécs (Hungary) - Yogyakarta (Indonesia)

Intro XXIV. 2009. Yogyakarta (Indonesia),Projections I. 2009-2010. Yogyakarta (Indonesia)

The Simbion Pictures and Other Perspectives As I commented above on Lifestream, the subject matter of the “greatstream” becomes consummate in later pictures, such as Simbion I, SimbionIV, Intro XXIV, and Perspectives I. What “points” are raised in these picturesafter all? In my opinion - which opinion may seem to be deviant - (Bonjour,Monsieur Gauguin!) the only point raised is how one can be present in a givenmoment and move forward with the great stream at the same (and ONLY) time.In other words, the question is howthe greatest wealth of existence (see:

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the great stream) can be linked with the greatest extent of independence and freedom. The pictures presented above are convincing evidence of the factthatEszterTari’sartismovingtowardthespiritual(ornon-figurative,ifyou like) direction and is distancing itself from the spectacle. For EszterTari an in-depth analysis of the forces concealed behind the appearanceof reality is facilitated by her unaffectedness, subjective way of seeing,and her occasional playful irony. All this is held together by the red thread(the great arcane!) of frankness, rescued and preserved from childhood.

Translated by Ágnes Surányi

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