Portrait of Árpád Miklós

Artist

Árpád Miklós

About the artist

He graduated in 1984 from the University of Art and Design Ion Andreescu in Kolozsvár. He has been a founding member of the MAMŰ Society Cultural As- sociation since 1988.

Besides being a painter, he is also active in the domestic art scene as a filmmaker. His important recognitions include the 3rd prize at the National Exhibition of Fine Art Students in Brașov (1984), a prize awarded at the Spring Exhibition in Kecskemét (1997), a prize awarded at the Winter Exhibition in Kecskeméti (1998), the Mihály Gácsi Prize (2020) and the János Bozsó Prize (2022).

He has been a regular member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts since 2024.

His works can be found in the collections of the Gallery of Kecskemét, the Contemporary Hungarian Gallery in Dunaszerdahely, the Gallery in Mádéfalva and the Transylvanian Art Centre in Sepsiszentgyörgy.

Short introduction

"I actively participate at fine art exhibitions and festivals both in Hungary and abroad. My artistic practice spans three main fields: painting, graphic art, and animated film. For many years I worked as an animator and director at Kecskemétfilm Ltd. My experience in animation inspired me to explore the movement of objects, their trajectories, and the deformations that arise from the simultaneous representation of sequential phases of motion.

In art history there have already been attempts to represent movement (for example by the Futurists, Marcel Duchamp, and Francis Bacon), but my artistic program differs fundamentally from these approaches.

Since the autumn of 2012, I have been animating the movement of bodies by painting it phase by phase, presenting the entire sequence of animation frames within a single image. During the painting process I photograph each stage, and from the material of these paintings I also create animated films with the help of these photographs. The conceptual framework of both the paintings and the films is based primarily on a subjective artistic exploration of time and the complex spatial relationships associated with it, accompanied by sound effects and ambient noises.

During the painting process, the overlapping phases gradually cover and erase visual information from the earlier ones. Through this I aim to express memories that fade or disappear with the passage of time. At the same time, I attempt to preserve fragments of the initial representations of movement as a kind of background radiation or visual noise. As a result, the film acquires a distinctive character through the delayed fading of phases that survive only in fragments or embedded traces.

The painting process concludes either at a final expressive endpoint or at an unfinished yet strongly characteristic key drawing. My films are constructed from rapid, clip-like, fragmented scenes, presenting the process of the paintings’ emergence and development, as well as the relationships between the individual works."

Portrait of Árpád Miklós

Life & milestones

  • 1958 — Born in Dicsőszentmárton (Târnăveni), Transylvania, Romania
  • 1980–1984 — “Ion Andreescu” Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Graphics, Cluj-Napoca
  • 1988 — Founding member of MAMÜ (Art Society)
  • 1989–1994 — Studio of Young Artists Association (FKSE)
  • 1989 — Műhely Art Association, Kecskemét, Hungary
  • Professional Memberships

  • — Community of Fine Artists of Kecskemét (KKK)
  • — Association of Hungarian Creative Artists (MAOE)
  • — Association of Graphic Artists
  • 2023 — Society of Hungarian Painters
  • 2024 — Regular Member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts — Section of Film and Photographic Arts

Solo exhibitions

  • 1985 — Szatmárnémeti (Satu Mare), Transylvania
  • 1987 — Nagybánya (Baia Mare), Transylvania
  • 1991 — Kaiser József Ferenc Barracks, Kecskemét
  • 1996 — Winter Gallery, Szentendre
  • 1997 — Ferenc Erdei Cultural Centre, Kecskemét
  • 1997 — Bahia Cellar Gallery, Kecskemét
  • 1999 — Kecskemét City Gallery
  • 2000 — MAMŰ Gallery, Budapest
  • 2001 — School Gallery, Tiszakécske
  • 2002 — Szigetszentmiklós City Gallery
  • 2002 — Víziváros Gallery, Budapest
  • 2005 — MAMŰ Gallery, Budapest
  • 2005 — Nekem 8 Teahouse Gallery, Kecskemét
  • 2005 — City Gallery, Kalocsa
  • 2006 — Bartók 32 Gallery, Budapest
  • 2008 — VAM Design Gallery, Király Street 26, Budapest
  • 2009 — Volksbank Gallery, Kecskemét
  • 2009 — Bernády House, Târgu Mureș (Marosvásárhely), Transylvania
  • 2009 — Ferenc Erdei Cultural Centre, Kecskemét
  • 2011 — Ferenc Erdei Cultural Centre — Open Atelier, Kecskemét
  • 2012 — RMDSZ Centre, Târnăveni (Dicsőszentmárton), Transylvania
  • 2013 — Evangelical Reformed Church — Vicar’s Office, Kecskemét
  • 2014 — New College, Kecskemét
  • 2015 — Art9 Gallery, Budapest
  • 2015 — Vajda Lajos Studio Cellar Gallery, Szentendre
  • 2015 — Szoboszlai Gallery
  • 2016 — Polgár Centrum — Újpest Gallery, Budapest
  • 2018 — Borbás Mihály Showroom, Baja
  • 2018 — Hírös Agóra Cultural Centre, Kecskemét
  • 2022 — Naphíd Gallery, Nagykőrös
  • 2025 — ADY25 Gallery and Exhibition Space, Budapest
  • 2026 — Kert Gallery, Art Colony of Szolnok

Prizes

  • 1984 — National Exhibition of Fine Arts Students — Second Prize, Brașov, Romania
  • 1992 — Spark — International Short Film Festival — Mikel di Plata Prize, Bilbao, Spain
  • 1997 — Prize of the Kecskemét Spring Exhibition
  • 1997 — Contemporary Poetry – Contemporary Graphics, Kecskemét Gallery — MAOSZ Award
  • 1998 — Kecskemét Winter Exhibition Award
  • 2001 — Butterfly — International Envirofilm Festival — Art Academy Award, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
  • 2015 — Kortárs Magazine Award
  • 2020 — Prize of the Kecskemét Spring Festival
  • 2020 — Trans Exhibition, Society of Fine Arts of Szolnok — Mihály Gácsi Prize
  • 2022 — Prize of the Kecskemét Spring Festival, Art Center
  • 2022 — János Bozsó Prize, City of Kecskemét
  • 2024 — 12th Contemporary Christian Iconography Biennial — Jury Commendation, Katona József Museum, Kecskemét

Works in public collections

    • Art Gallery of Kecskemét, Kecskemét, Hungary — Totem, Memory Image, Awakening (paintings)
    • Gallery of Contemporary Hungarian Art, Dunajská Streda, Slovakia — Studio, Sirsasana (paintings)
    • Madéfalva Gallery, Madéfalva (Siculeni), Romania — In Memory of the Siculicidium (painting)
    • Transylvanian Art Centre, Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania — Kamil (painting)

Filmography

Selected moving-image works. Titles below link to animations on this site.

Major Film Appearances

1992

  • Bilbao Documentary and Short Film Festival – Spark (Mikeldi de Plata Award)
  • Hungarian Retrospective, Ghent – Ekho
  • Mediterranean Film Meeting, Montpellier – Ekho

1993

  • Odense Short Film Festival – Ekho
  • Mediawave, Győr – Spark, Ekho
  • Montecatini Video Festival – Ekho
  • Krakow Short Film Festival – Spark
  • Espinho Animation Festival – Spark
  • Montreal Short Film Festival – Spark
  • Kecskemét Animation Film Festival – Ekho, Spark

1994

  • Bombay International Film Festival – Spark
  • Hungarian Film Week – Spark, Ekho
  • Mediawave, Győr – Ekho
  • Zagreb Animation Film Festival – Spark, Ekho

1995

1996

1997

2001

  • PISAF, Korea – Butterfly
  • Envirofilm Festival, Banská Bystrica – Butterfly (Slovak Academy of Arts Award)

2002

2003

2005

  • Kecskemét Animation Film Festival – Bubble

2006

2007

2008

2008–2009

2019

2020

2023