FOGLIO SU FOGLIO

Ilona Szalay

'On the Island' is an exhibition of new work by contemporary painter Ilona Szalay. The paintings are oil on glass and are framed in front of LED lights creating illuminated images or 'lightbox' paintings.
'The Island' is an imaginative space where tragedy, comedy and eroticism are all played out. The works suggest a narrative of sorts - a shipwreck or accident has occurred and the survivors remain isolated on the island,unable to leave.
A rescue is imminent but in no way certain. Those stranded on the island yearn for departure whilst simultaneously being held captive. There are inhabitants on the island. These beings exhibit alien habits, rituals and desires and we are witness to an undercurrent of menace and brooding sexuality between the interlopers and the indigenous beings.
The works are cinematic in that their illumination provides an effect which is both dramatic and magical.
The paint rolls across the glass, flooding it, burning bright and only just remaining in the control of the artist.
'The dark, roiling liquidities of Szalay's lightbox paintings are simultaneously menacing and compelling, powerfully primeval.'
Gabriel Coxhead, Time Out magazine, London
Show Titles:
'Boat' 50cm. x 40cm.
'Signal' 40cm. x 50cm.
'Rescue' 50cm. x 40cm.
'Sailor' 70cm.x 50cm.
'On Board' 70cm. x 50cm.
'Pet' 50cm. x 70cm.
'Wake Up' 50cm. x 40cm.
About Ilona Szalay
Ilona Szalay studied at Oxford University and Byam Shaw, University of the Arts. She has shown her paintings at many galleries and international art fairs.
In 2013 she was selected as one of six finalists for the Threadneedle Prize, one of the most valuable art prizes in the UK. She also won the ORA Prize, an Italian contemporary art prize, and was chosen to show work in the Barbican Open Exhibition. In 2013 she had two solo shows of new paintings, one in Italy Octopus at Galleria Marelia and one in London Owl, Boy, Gun at Rebecca Hossack Gallery.
At the beginning of 2014 she was selected by Rebecca Wilson, head curator at Saatchi Art, as one of 14 Artists from around the world to invest in. In the same year she exhibited paintings at Art 14 London, the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and had a solo show of new work, entitled Mermaid, at the Tart Gallery in Zurich.
This year she has shown paintings at the London Art Fair in January and Art15, London in May and looks forward to solo exhibitions in Edinburgh, Manchester and Rome later in the year.
EDUCATION
2001-2002 Byam Shaw School of Art, University of the Arts, MA Fine Art, Distinction MA thesis
1999-2000 Byam Shaw School of Art, University of the Arts, Post-Graduate Diploma
1998-1999 Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design, Foundation Diploma
1994-1997 Brasenose College, Oxford University, BA English Literature, 2.1
EXHIBITIONS
2015
On the Island, Solo Exhibition, LaPortaBlu, Rome
Witness, Solo Exhibition, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh
Second Lesson, Artisan, Manchester
Art 15 London, Olympia, London
The Promised Land, St Anne's Gallery, Lewes
London Art Fair, Islington, London
2014
Mermaid, Solo exhibition, Tart Gallery, Zurich
Terra Incognita, the Project Gallery, Arundel
Undercurrents, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London
AAF New York City, Metropolitan Pavilion
UP&COMING, Exhibition organised by Kids of Dada, Hoxton Gallery, London
AAF Milan, Superstudio Piu
Art 14 London, Olympia, London
2013
Silver, Group exhibition, Rebecca Hossack Gallery
Art Toronto, Metro Toronto Convention Centre
The Threadneedle Prize, the Mall Galleries
The 20/21 British Art Fair, Royal College of Art
ArtWorks Open 2013, Barbican Arts Group Trust
Owl, Boy, Gun, Solo exhibition, Rebecca Hossack Gallery
Octopus, Solo exhibition, Galleria Marelia, Bergamo
2012
Sand in the Wax, auction at the Barbican Arts Trust
The National Open Art Competition, The Prince's Foundation, Hoxton
The Threadneedle Prize, the Mall Galleries, London
The Other Art Fair, Ambika P3, London
FAD Exhibition at Boxpark, Shoreditch
2011
The Other Art Fair, the Bargehouse, London
The London Group Open Exhibition 2011, The Cello Factory
No New Thing Under The Sun, Royal Academy, London
2010
Group show gallery artists , Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
Open Art Fair, Utrecht, Holland
Naked (solo show), Whitfield Fine Art, London
Paint, The Beldam Gallery, London
London Art Fair, Rebecca Hossack Gallery
2009
Group Show of gallery artists, Rebecca Hossack Gallery
Collectible, Bargate Monument Gallery, Southampton
Art London, Rebecca Hossack Gallery
Image Surface Event, Standpoint Gallery, London
Giddee Up, The Arts Gallery, London
London Art Fair, Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London
2008
Awopbopaloobop, Transition Gallery, London
They Paved Paradise, Beverley Knowles Fine Art, London
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London
Solo Project Space, London Art Fair (with Beverley Knowles Fine Art)
AWARDS
2015 Winner T.I.N.A. Art Prize Roma
2014 Anthology, Charlie Smith, long list
2013 Finalist for The Threadneedle Prize
2013 Winner of the ORA Prize, Italy
2012 3rd Annual Call, Beers Lambert, long list
2011 I am solitary, Beers Lambert, long list
2006 Celeste Painting Prize, short list
PRESS
Metro, Wall Street International Magazine, The Independent, The Times, Dazed and Confused, Turps Banana, Garageland, The Resident, The Grove

Opening reception : Saturday 10 October 2015 19:00 hour

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