István Orosz (born 24 October 1951) is a Hungarian painter, printmaker, graphic designer and animated film director. He is known for his mathematically inspired works, impossible objects, optical illusions, double-meaning images and anamorphoses. The geometric art of István Orosz, with forced perspectives and optical illusions, has been compared to works by M. C. Escher.[1]
Biography
He was born in Kecskemét. He studied at the Hungarian University of Arts and Design (now Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design) in Budapest as a pupil of István Balogh and Ernő Rubik. After graduating in 1975 he began to deal with theatre as a stage designer and animated film as animator and film director. He is known as painter, printmaker, poster designer, and illustrator as well. He likes to use visual paradox, double meaning images, and illusionistic approaches while following traditional printing techniques such as woodcutting and etching. He also tries to renew the technique of anamorphosis. He is a regular participant in the major international biennials of posters and graphic art and his works have been shown in individual and group exhibitions in Hungary and abroad. Film director at the PannóniaFilm Studio in Budapest, Habil. professor at University of West Hungary in Sopron, co-founder of Hungarian Poster Association, member of Alliance Graphique International (AGI) and Hungarian Art Academie. He often uses ΟΥΤΙΣ, or Utisz, (pronounced: outis) (No one) as artist's pseudonym.
Quotes
"Utisz - It was the Homeric hero Odysseus, who fought the Cyclops, had used this name, and had put out the monster's eye. I imagine that poster is nothing else but an Odysseus' gesture: some kind of attack upon the eye."
"If you want to create a poster try to explain your idea in a sentence. Then try to reduce it, leave out phrases, attributes until you just have the bare essentials. When you do not need any letter at all you are ready with the poster."
"... When I have drawn these impossible objects, I did hope everybody would understand my intention, the intention of a Hungarian designer at the end of the 20th century who does not tell the truth just in order to be caught in the act."
"There are things I can imagine and I can draw. There are things I can imagine but I cannot draw. But, could I draw something that I cannot imagine? That interests me greatly."
Introduction by Guy D'Obonner
During the last two decades – when most of the works shown here were made – the activities of the poster designer, the printmaker, the illustrator, and the film director have completed each other. Many motive, stylistic features, technical solutions appeared in all of the media and for Orosz it seemingly did not cause any problem to cross the borders of the different genres. When he was drawing a poster usually he did it with the preciseness of illustrators, when he was illustrating a book, he did it with the narrative mood of filmmakers, if he was animating films, sometimes he used the several layers approach of etchers and engravers and for prints he often chose the emblematic simplifying way of depiction of posters. If we call him only a poster designer based on his functional prints, we narrow down his field of activity, we go closer to the truth if we associate him with „postering" as a way of thinking, or if we call his many sided image depicting ourselves and our age as the poster-mirror of István Orosz. (Guy d'Obonner: Transfiguration of Poster - detail)[2]
Poster art
István Orosz was known as poster designer in the first part of his career. He made mainly cultural posters for theatres,[3] movies,[4] galleries,[5] museums[6] and publishing houses[7] At the time of the revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe he drew some political posters[8] too. His "Tovarishi Adieu" (also used with text "Tovarishi Koniec" – that means Comrades it is over) appeared in many countries and it was known as symbolic image of changes in the area.
His anamorphoses
Artists who design anamorphosis (anamorphosis is Greek for "re-transformation") play with perspective to create a distorted image that appears normal only when viewed from the correct angle or with the aid of curved mirrors.[9] The technique was often used by Renaissance-era artists. Orosz tries to renew the technique of anamorphosis and his aim is to develop it as well when he gives a meaning to the distorted image, too. It is not an amorph picture any more, but a meaningful depiction that is independent from the result that appears in the mirror[10] or viewed from a special point of view.[11][12]
This approach of anamorphoses is suitable for expressing more sophisticated messages, and it fits to show more amusing fun.[13][14]
2005 Grand Prix and Award of Film and TV Critics (tied with Igor Lazin) for Az idő látképei ("Time Sights") at the 7th KAFF Animated Film Festival, Kecskemét.[24]
2009 Special Award for Best Visual Language (tied with Zoltán Szilágyi Varga) for Útvesztők ("Mazes") at the 9th KAFF Animated Film Festival, Kecskemét.[25]
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