El Kazovsky

El Kazovsky (born July 13, 1950 - died July 21, 2008) was a Russian-born Hungarian painter; one of the leading Hungarian painters of her time.

Personal life

El Kazovsky was born under the name of Elena Kazovskaya in Leningrad, Russia. She moved to Hungary in 1965, at the age of 15. She graduated in 1977 with a major in painting from the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts. Her masters were György Kádár and Ignác Kokas.

El Kazovsky was open about her transsexuality - born biologically as a female, she defined herself as an androphile man. [cite news |title=Csillapíthatatlan kíváncsiság |url=http://www.mancs.hu/index.php?gcPage=/public/hirek/hir.php&id=11209 |author=Váradi Júlia |work=Magyar Narancs |date=2005-02-03]

Art

Her art was not broken down into periods; all of her expressive paintings are revealing the same mythological word that she created. Several figures appear in many of her paintings, such as the long nosed dog or the ballet dancer figure. Besides paintings, her work span to stage designs, performances and installations.

Awards

* Kossuth Award (2002)
* Mihaly Munkacsy Award (1989)
* Gyula Derkovits Scolarship (1980)

Exhibitions

Solo shows:
* The State Russian Museum - Marble Palace, St. Petersburg, 2005

Group shows:
* Mis-en Abyme (Kép a képben). Várfok Gallery, Budapest, 2008
* Hungarian Art. Danubiana - Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava, 2007
* Re:embrandt - Contemporary Hungarian Artists Respond. Museum of Fine Arts - Budapest, Budapest, 2006
* Common Space, Ernst Museum Budapest, Budapest, 2006
* In Black and White - Graphic Art exhibition. Mucsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, 2001
* Millennial serie of exhibitions in the Mucsarnok. Mucsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, 2000

Public Collections

* Hungarian National Gallery (Magyar Nemzeti Galéria), Budapest, Hungary
* Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, Hungary
* Institute of Contemporary Art, Dunaújváros, Hungary
* Muzeum Sztuki w Lodz, Lodz, Poland [El Kazovsky at [http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/artistInfo/artist/59107/lang/1 artifacts.net] ]

Books, monographies

* Forgacs, Eva: "El Kazovszkij" (monograph, 1996)
* Uhl, Gabriella: "El Kazovszkij kegyetlen testszínháza" ((album, 2008)

References