Csaba Pál – Essence of Layers | exhibition
We have selected works from a 30-year creative process for the exhibition. The show will feature paintings, digital prints, flat films, graphic works, and an artist’s book. It is multifaceted and personal, highlighting some of the most compelling works of the recent past.
Schedule
The images do not depict concrete objects; rather, they convey emotions, energies, and movement.
The paintings represent a transition between abstract expressionism and geometric abstraction. In my work, I repeatedly engage with different layers of abstraction, spatial solutions, textures, and the emotional and conceptual impact of color. My mentor was Dóra Maurer, whom I deeply admire. Among international artists, Arnulf Rainer, Cy Twombly, and Franz Kline have had a significant influence on me.
My graphic works seek to evoke forgotten inner images and explore the inner conflict between unconscious desires and the external world. Each work carries its own story, yet together they depict complex inner relationships.
The exhibited graphic works were not created on metal plates but scratched and scraped into layers of paint applied to plexiglass sheets. Plexiglass—unlike paper or canvas—is a transparent support, a material of an in-between state. Scratching means damaging a smooth surface, a process in which creation and destruction are simultaneously present. This is a slow, repetitive, meditative, and planned process, not a single gesture. The works are unique, not reproduced, and not reproducible.
By removing material from the black-painted plexiglass, I damage the surface and create absence—areas that become transparent, “invisible,” and only visible through the effect of light. Due to the translucency of the material, the scratches become visible only from certain angles, so the works are “activated” through the viewer’s movement.
The enjoyment and love of work, freedom, experimentation, and the desire to play gave rise to these “graphics.”
I strive to reveal the continuous interactions between human emotions and our environment. The works stem from personal experiences, thoughts, and feelings; they are the result of an inner, intuitive process. They function as a form of self-reflection, through which I reveal my own emotional or intellectual world and share it clearly and honestly with others.
My goal is for visitors to perceive their surroundings more consciously and to become more empathetic. I invite them to experience the feelings, energies, moods, and joys inherent in the creative process. To step out of everyday routines and freely surrender themselves to the works.
To be simultaneously an observer, a participant, and an interpreter.
January 26, 2026 (Monday), 6:00 PM – February 20, 2026 (Friday), 7:00 PM
The exhibition will be opened by László Hemrik.