Thick skin

Presentation by Veronika Romhány
17 December 2017, 7:30 PM, Scout institute Prague
Performance by Alice Minárová and Miroslav Tóth

Veronika Romhány, a Hungarian artist, currently an Agosto Foundation artist in residence, will present her work, including a screening of her 3D films. The event will also include an improvisation performance by Alica Minárová (dance) and Miroslav Tóth (alto saxophone).

 

Veronika Romhány works extensively with 3D animation through the ruse of a mystifying “cooperation” with the fictional Russian artist Věra Nimova. Romhány dedicates an installation to this ambitious artist, a work which reflects themes such as power, greed and their impact on human individuality. The installation was first exhibited at Bartok 9/11 Gallery in Budapest, as part of a group show, which was cancelled because the participating artists were opposed to the fact that the gallery was supported by a newly-empowered organization called the MMA (Hungarian Academy of Arts), a government-supported institute which was already considered by many to be scandalous. The dilemma split the group of artists between those who wanted categorically to cancel the exhibition, and those who wanted to disavow the political aspects while leaving the exhibition running. This incident became an inspiration for the further development of Nimova project.

Artist’s statement

There is a really strong point in decision making – how to balance [outside] pressure with our moral preconditions. We practice it day-to-day and with these small steps we form our personality.

As a reaction, I focused my research, and I created a fictional character to play with. For this character I created an environment to use as a mirror for understanding more clearly what am I trying to avoid or running away from. I discovered Vera Nimova, a self-educated, Russian, nationalist female artist who created for this special exhibition a small bust representing The Worker of The Month (or rather, as I imagine she would have imagined it).

That symbolic act, stemming from a one-night action, has become a long-term project. For me it is an approach for researching and understanding my work with visual forms. I search for these kinds of contradictions within a character, and I am not able to separate it from the environment. I am interested in this kind of decision making and find the language of the absurd, of irony, or the grotesque to be a possible way to capture it.

After the presentation, there will be a dance and music improvisation “Rural snowflake, Snowman and Insertion” by Alica Minárová (dance) and Miroslav Tóth (alto saxophone).