Máté Orr’s debut soloshow at the Twin Gallery in Madrid.
Máté Orr: ‘Observe As I Fly Away’
February 13 - March 22, 2025
Twin Gallery, Madrid
Twelve new paintings will explore the complex relationship between autonomy and automatism - the balance between self-governing and unconscious behaviors.
In the eponymous painting of the exhibition, the flamingo should be alarmed, but it is not. The sea creatures seem frenzied but are reluctant to attack. In ‘Raspberry Man’, the golden mouse seemingly about to be swallowed by a pelican remains unfazed. Contrary to traditional hunting scenes, in Orr's paintings predators gaze empathetically while their prey take action and fight back. It is never clear who is in control — seemingly, everyone is in charge. Orr's characters playfully invent new ways to exist together instead of automatically accepting their dominant or submissive roles as the situation might dictate. Reflecting on this, Orr writes, "We spend a lot of time running on autopilot, which is sometimes useful and can be very productive, but the danger is that we become detached from what is actually going on around us. And that is just boring."
Beyond the absurdity lies reality in Orr’s works. Much like La Fontaine's fables, Orr uses animals and invented creatures to create a distance which allows opportunities for reflecting on our own human behaviour. Orr strives for playfulness in both theme and technique. Through carefully crafted compositions and smooth crystalline surfaces, an otherwise hard introspection becomes magically enticing. Orr’s paintings serve as reminders to stay in the present and always remember to play.
Máté Orr's painting method combines traditional oil painting with contemporary vector graphic aesthetics. Seeing the Lorenzetti frescoes in Siena while he was a graphic design student contemplating a move towards fine art painting, Orr realised that combining different modes of depiction could create mystical images. Orr uses Adobe Illustrator to draw his 2D silhouette-like "notan” formulations and then, together with the realistic 3D 'chiaroscuro' details, he paints everything by hand on the canvas. The soft-focused quality of airbrushed surfaces introduces yet another dimension, emphasising the constant shift between the realistic and the emblematic. This is most evident in the painting, ‘The Real, The Unreal, and The Improbable’.
Volumes of work by Dali and Bosch from the family library shaped Orr’s childhood entertainment. From an early age, he was captivated by the many ways that space and form could be represented in painting, closely studying the techniques of old masters as well as exploring the breadth and depth of contemporary mediums. Direct references to art history often appear in Orr’s work, with hints of Magritte's surrealism and Hockney's stage-like compositions.
Máté Orr is a painter based in Budapest and Sicily. He studied graphic design and printmaking before graduating in fine art painting from the University of Fine Arts, Budapest. Since his graduation he has exhibited internationally and his work is widely collected across Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States.
‘Observe As I Fly Away’ marks his Spanish debut.. Máté Orr’s upcoming projects: Two group exhibitions this Spring. In London, UK (19th February, J D Malat Gallery) and in Mermaid Beach, Australia (19th April, 19Karen Gallery) And a solo exhibition in October in Zurich, Switzerland. (Galerie Soon).
