SI-LA-GI
Encyclopedia
Biography
He was born in Tokaj, Hungary on 17 September 1949 and emigrated via Italy to Sweden in 1966.There he studied painting at the Academy of Fine Art and later continued his studies at the University of Stockholm (Science of visual arts). In the meantime he also worked with experimental film and photography in the 1960s and from 1973 also with videos. He was the pioneer in the mid-1970s who began making installations using video. At the end of the 1970s he was co-founder of the Video Nu Studio in Stockholm which gave artists the opportunity to create experimental arts. In his art he uses diverse media, including photography, video, sculpture and installation. His works are concept and philosophy-based investigations of impermanence, life and death, and individual opportunities.
Between 1980-1986 he taught art video and painting in Stockholm. He has travelled widely throughout the United States of America, Africa and Asia, where he developed his interest in Buddhism. His martial art studies and long Buddhist retreats have had a great influence on his concept-based art.
About his work
"…his works are not about aesthetic values or formal solutions but the direct exploration of reality and all levels of intellectual and emotional understanding as well as making others understand are his subjects. He does not want to amaze but to awaken ..."(Dr. Lajos Pressing).
"...His works raise questions, stimulate, but at the same time remain open. His artworks are not completed products, they are not articles but communication instruments and systems. His personality corresponds to contemporary arts, we could say to global culture's most advanced approach..."
(Pierre RESTANY, French art historian, curator.)
"...His identity is not based on some school, type or identification with any technical knowledge, but his own human experiences, encounters and recognition. To make them visible he bravely, freely and in a supreme way uses any style or expressive media. This freedom can equally manifest itself in a minimalist or in an expressive way, and it does not come from subjectivity or personal judgement. SI-LA-GI 's freedom breaks through the conditionality of birth, race and culture and expresses the dignity of a human who recognises his own universal importance, who is a creator and user but not a slave to his instruments and life conditions..."
(Dr. Lajos Pressing).