About
Hajnal Németh
In her artistic practice Hajnal Németh creates musical performances, spatial installations, films and photographs. Her projects are mostly based on textbooks containing her own writings or slightly modified quotations such as lyrics, poems or prose fragments.
The artist participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions at prestigious art institutions in Europe, America and Asia, including MUMOK, Vienna; Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin; The Kitchen, New York; Renaissance Society, Chicago; Tate Modern, London; Art Museum, Singapore; Ludwig-Museum, Budapest; TENT, Rotterdam; Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf; Kunstmuseum Stuttgart; Kunsthalle, Budapest; Kunsthalle Emden; Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw; Comunidad de Madrid; 2nd Berlin Biennale, KW Berlin; Casino Luxembourg; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Musée d’Art moderne de Saint-Etienne; Picasso Museum, Barcelona; Palais de Tokyo, Paris.
Her work was nominated for the Nam June Paik Award in 2010.
She was representing Hungary at the Venice Biennale 2011.
“My artistic activity is based in performative works of different durations, which are mainly musical interpretations of written texts, drawing on the broad spectrum of musical tendencies (pop, rock, jazz or opera) and the tools and devices of other performative fields, sometimes placed in an environment of light- and spatial installation. Although in terms of genre, I classify these pieces (concert-performances) into the categories of musical, opera or choir piece, these denominations are more of a reflexive query into the nature of genres, for the performances are in fact not concerts or theatre plays.
In my work I endeavour to cross or rather expand the boundaries of artistic categories, in other words, I intend to treat them with liberty. I am most intrigued by the interdisciplinarity between the fields of fine art and music, with special regard to time-based forms of creative art that can be experienced in the process, in other words, creative methods of process art. In my view and practice, not only the “end product” can be considered an artwork, but also the “procedure”, and this artwork is given real life to by the spectator, which accordingly makes the audience part of the creative process.
I have always been interested in making processes visible, therefore my video works often document the studio recording process of pieces written by me, and my installations are, so to say, contextual environments with objects left behind after performances that have already taken place. Live performances are generally musical pieces based on poetic or prose textbooks, often performances corresponding to the extent of a regular concert, sometimes extended shows that last for days and present the process of composing and rehearsals as well.
In terms of format, I work in a large spectrum; depending on the work phase, the following media are usually exhibited: textbooks, music scores, happenings, concert-performances, choir pieces, films, video installations, sound installations, light installations, photos and posters.
My textbooks are usually based on my own writing, but occasionally I work with quotes. However, when citing existing – that is, borrowed – lyrics, poems or prose fragments, I specifically query, in other words, reflect on the gesture of quotation. I do this by rewriting the quoted text and developing a quasi-corrected but by all means arbitrarily altered version. These changes are sometimes minimal, but radical in the sense that they endow the text with an entirely new meaning.”
Interview by Helene Romakin: artfridge.de
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Born in 1972 in Hungary.
Lives and works in Berlin.
Studies
Institute of Photography, Szekesfehervar (H) 1991-93
Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Intermedia Department, Budapest 1995-2000
Running a course at Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Intermedia Department since 2010.
Scholarships and Awards
Duende Studiohouse, Rotterdam, 2001
Künstlerhaus Bethanien, International Studio Program, Berlin, 2002
Derkovits Gyula Fineart Scholarship, Budapest, 2006−2008
Künstlerhaus Worpswede, International Studio Program, 2007
Nam June Paik Award (nomination), Düsseldorf, 2010
Munkácsy Award, Hungary, 2011
AICA Award, Hungary, 2011
Kulturverwaltung des Berliner Senats, Berlin, Stipendium, 2011
Stiftung Kunstfonds, Bonn, Stipendium, 2012
Deutsche Akademie Rom, Villa Serpentara, Stipendium, 2013
Leopold Bloom Art Award, Hungary, 2017
Exhibtions
Solo
| year | exhibition |
|---|---|
| 2020 | My Time, Your Time, Galeri Ffrindiau, Budapest |
| 2019 | Simultaneous City, Ebensperger Rhomberg, Berlin |
| Crash - Passive Interview, MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen | |
| 2018 | Work Song - As Time Goes By, screening, David Chipperfield Architects - Showroom, Berlin |
| 52 For Example, performance, Intermedia Department, Budapest | |
| 2017 | White Song - Among Others, Trafó Gallery, Budapest |
| False Testimony, The Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam | |
| 2016 | Imagine War – Sound in Motion, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart |
| German Dawn, Galerie Ebensperger, Vienna | |
| White Song - Among Others, Galerie Ebensperger, Berlin | |
| Work Song – As Time Goes By, musical, ZK/U, Berlin | |
| Work Song – As Time Goes By, musical, CHB, Berlin | |
| 2015 | Imagine War, performance and installation, acb Gallery, Budapest |
| The Loser, performance, Atrium Theatre, Budapest | |
| Work Song, RAM, Rotterdam | |
| 2014 | Work Song, musical, Teatro Valle Occupato, Rome |
| Work Song, Galerie Patrick Ebensperger, Berlin | |
| False Testimony, "CKOM”, Video Room, RAM Foundation, Rotterdam | |
| Imagine War, performance, A Window in Berlin, Berlin | |
| 2013 | The Loser (version 2), REH Kunst, Berlin |
| False Testimony, OSA - Open Society Archives, Budapest | |
| Contrawork, Projections, Art Rotterdam | |
| 2012 | False Testimony, Invaliden1 Gallery, Berlin |
| Air Out, video of the month, NBK, Berlin | |
| The Loser, performance, Balassi Institut - CHB, Berlin | |
| False Testimony, screening, Tranzit, Budapest | |
| Contrawork, Kunstcentrum - Korenbeurs Schiedam | |
| 2011 | Crash – Passive Interview, 54th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, Hungarian Pavilion, Venice |
| Air Out, Loop - Screen from Barcelona, Picasso Museum, Barcelona | |
| Contrawork, PhotoEdition Berlin | |
| 2010 | 2 Songs 1 End, Modem, Debrecen |
| Joe Contra Joe, VideoSpace Gallery, Budapest | |
| 2010 Crash – Passive Interview, Museum Kiscell – Municipal Picture Gallery, Budapest | |
| Crystal Clear Propaganda – The Transparent Method, Dortmunder Kunstveein e.V., Dortmund | |
| 2009 | Crystal Clear Propaganda – The Transparent Method, Studio Gallery, Budapest |
| Crystal Clear Propaganda – The Transparent Method, SecondHome Projects, Berlin | |
| 2008 | Irokez Gallery, Szombathely (with Tamas Komoróczky) |
| 2007 | Guitarsolo, CHB, Berlin |
| Truck facing eastwards, KUNSTrePUBLIK – Skulpturenpark, Berlin | |
| I'm absolutely none, IMPEX, Budapest | |
| 2006 | Guitarsolo, Vintage Gallery, Budapest |
| 2005 | Portrait with a microphone, SwanHouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Pecs |
| 2004 | Tradition und neue Chance, presentation, IFA-Galerie, Berlin |
| Tunnel Coctail Bar, Vintage Gallery, Budapest | |
| 2003 | StereoHeart, ACB Gallery, Budapest |
| Thursday Forever – MC Monument, Ludwig Museum, Budapest | |
| BAR 24, Galeria Balen, Slavonski Brod | |
| 2002 | Move the spirit from A to Z, Trafo Gallery, Budapest |
| Move the spirit from A to Z, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin | |
| 2001 | Sunday Reamed, Miró Fotógaléria, Budapest |
| Sunday to Monday, CO10 Galerie – Ulrike Behrends, Düsseldorf | |
| Bye Bye Happiness, Hello Loneliness, Vintage Gallery, Budapest | |
| Bye Bye Innocence, MEO Institution of Contemporary Arts, Budapest | |
| Babak + 512, Studio Gallery, Budapest | |
| 2000 | In My Garden, with Peter Land, Studio Gallery, Budapest |
| Inplanted Reallity, Galerie für Landschaftskunst, Hamburg | |
| 1999 | video-show, Salon3, London |
| video-show, Moderna Museet, Stockholm | |
| EY EY, U.F.F. Gallery, Budapest | |
| Roomtaboo, Atelier Gallery, Budapest | |
| Twice Good Night, Approach Gallery, Pecs | |
| 1998 | Help yourself!, Annexed Gallery, London |
| LifeStyle-less, Knoll Gallery, Budapest | |
| 1997 | Every night and every day is Sunday, Studio Gallery, Budapest |
| Sometimes Hajnal, Anywhere Balazs, with Balazs Beothy, Szeged | |
| Slide Show, with Istvan Szil I, BookHouse, Budapest | |
| Beautiful, Practical, Hygienic, Szekesfehervar | |
| E-YOGA, Studio Gallery, Budapest | |
| 1996 | Homemade Trance, Liget Gallery, Budapest |
Group
| year | exhibition |
|---|---|
| 2020 | The dialectic of Images, CHB - Collegium Hungaricim Berlin |
| The Dead Web - The End, Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest | |
| 2019 | Public Private Affairs, Ferenczy Museum Center, Budapest |
| Something Common, Ebensperger Rhomberg, Salzburg | |
| The X - 10th Anniversary Show, Whiteconcepts, Berlin | |
| 2018 | De Fils ou de Fibres, Abbaye St André - Centre d'art contemporain Meymac |
| Related by Sister Languages, Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest | |
| 2017 | Save As, Ludwig Museum, Budapest |
| The Car in the Art - A Raging Passion, Kunsthalle Emden, Emden | |
| Leopold Bloom Art Award 2017, New Budapest Gallery, Budapest | |
| 2016 | Passion - Fan behavior and Art, Ludwig Museum, Budapest |
| Passion - Fan behavior and Art, Stadtgalerie Kiel | |
| Hero Mother, MOMENTUM & Studio 1, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin | |
| Up Memory Lane (Part 2), RAM, Rotterdam | |
| False Testimony – Version 3, Art Rotterdam | |
| 2015 | Do Disturb, Palais de Tokyo, Paris |
| Language & Art, Kunsthal Rotterdam | |
| Passion - Fan behavior and art - Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin | |
| Timebase, New Budapest Galler, Budapest | |
| Inaugural Exhibition – Vienna Branch, Galerie Patrick Ebensperger, Vienna | |
| 2014 | False Testimony, Art Rotterdam |
| Story Time. Or Was It?, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv | |
| 2013 | Love Triangle, Goethe-Institut, Stockholm |
| Conceptual Art Today, City Gallery Paks | |
| 20 Years Intermedia, Modem, Debrecen | |
| 2012 | Entre (Ouverture) Palais de Tokyo, Paris |
| Selected Artists 2011, NGBK, Berlin | |
| 2011 | The End of the Dream, MicaMoca Project, Berlin |
| 2010 | Nam June Paik Award 2010 - Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf |
| Transitland in Trieste - Studio Tommaseo - Istituto per la documentazione e diffusione delle Arti, Trieste | |
| Infernoesque Provides: Luna / Proxy/ Fire/ Snow, Galerie Gebr. Lehmann, Berlin | |
| Music Store, Galeria Neon, Budapest | |
| Private Landscapes, Contemporary Photography from Hungary, Kunstverein Düsseldorf | |
| Transitland - Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía MNCARS, Madrid | |
| Infernoesque Provides: Luna, Proxy, Fire, Snow, Galerie Gebr. Lehmann, Dresden | |
| Action! Video screening, Infernoesque projektraum, Berlin | |
| 2009 | Zeigen, An Audio Tour through Berlin by Karin Sander, Temporare Kunsthalle Berlin |
| Gender Check - Rollenbilder in der Kunst Osteuropas, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig - MUMOK , Vienna | |
| Transmediale - Transitland Destination Berlin (TCP) - Collegium Hungaricum, Berlin | |
| Transitland - The Red House - Centre for Culture and Debate, Sofia | |
| Expanded Realities – Contemporary Hungarian Photography, City Gallery Pécs | |
| video screening, Janos Gat Gallery, New York | |
| Another Time - Another Place: Contemporary Hungarian Video Artists, American University | |
| Museum at the Katzen, Washington | |
| Derkovits – scholarship, Ernst Museum, Budapest | |
| A Little Hungarian Pornography, MODEM, Debrecen | |
| 2008 | Guess who is coming, RAM Art Foundation, Rotterdam |
| Micro-narratives: tentation des petites réalités, Musée d’Art moderne de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne | |
| All that Cinema, Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest | |
| Studio 72, Studio Gallery, Budapest | |
| 2007 | Concept: Photography – Dialogues and Attitudes, |
| Selection from the DZ BANK Art Collection, Ludwig Museum , Budapest | |
| ASIA – EUROPA mediation, European attitude, IF Museum Inner Spaces, Poznan | |
| Central Europe Revisited I, Schloss Esterhazy, Eisenstadt | |
| Close Encounters – Central European Video Art, Fine Arts Center Galleries | |
| University of Rhode Island, Kingston | |
| 48th October Salon, Temptation of small realities, micro communities, Belgrade | |
| Kunst aus Ungarn, Stiftung Landdrostei, Pinneberg | |
| 2006 | 1.Vienna Biennale, Vienna |
| New Video, New Europe, The Kitchen, New York City, NY | |
| Artist Migration Berlin – Dellbrügge & De Moll, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg | |
| Autopoesis, Slovenska Narodna Galeria, Bratislava | |
| ART FAB, St Tropez | |
| Generally Believed, Mongolian Embassy, Berlin | |
| selection from the collection of Ludwig Museum, Budapest | |
| 2005 | Extended Views – screening program, Médiathčque José Cabanis,Toulouse |
| Urbane Realitaten: Focus Istanbul, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin | |
| New Feminism - New Europe, Cornerhause, Manchester | |
| EuropaFries, Collegium Hungaricum, Berlin | |
| Boundary Zones – Plartforma, Klaipeda , Lithuania | |
| Shopped to Death, Tuteurhaus, Berlin | |
| Places of Transition – 7th International Triennial Ecology and Art, Maribor | |
| 2004 | New Video – New Europe, Society Renaissance, Chicago; Contemporary Art Museum, St Louis; Tate Modern, London |
| Twilight Tomorrow, Art Museum Singapore, Singapore | |
| BreakThrough, Grote Kerk Den Haag | |
| Extended views – Centre Ceramique Maastricht | |
| Hungarian art today, RAM Gallery, Rotterdam | |
| Soap Opera, Mucsarnok – Kunsthalle, Budapest | |
| 2003 | Soft manipulation, Atelierraum Martin Vesely, Vienna |
| Cruising Danubio, Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid | |
| ACB Gallery Opening, Budapest | |
| AURA, After the age of technical reproduction, C3 – Center for Culture & Communication, Budapest | |
| 2002 | Unstable Narratives, hARTware Medien Kunst Verein, Dortmund |
| Owerwork, TENT, Rotterdam | |
| Upside Down, Gallery Priestor for Contemporary Art, Bratislava | |
| Romantisches Gesamtkunstwerk und Anderes, Atelierhof Werenzhain | |
| selection from the collection of Ludwig Museum, Budapest | |
| Aktuelle Positionen, Museum Sammlung Friedrichshof | |
| 2001 | The Garden, Gallery of Szombathely, Szombathely |
| 2. Berlin Biennale, Kunst-Werke, Berlin | |
| Confidences – Parce que c’etait lui, parce que c’etait moi, Casino Luxembourg | |
| Irokez Collection, Mucsarnok - Kunsthalle, Budapest | |
| MEO – Contemporary Art Collection, Budapest | |
| Compatibility, ZOO Galerie, Nantes | |
| Out of Time, Mucsarnok - Kunsthalle, Budapest | |
| CENTAL – cental european artists, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen | |
| Léger Différé, Centre Régional d’Art Contemporain, Séte | |
| Hungarian digital art, Media Centre, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London | |
| Suprise 2, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Dunaujvaros | |
| Frames’ games,Collegium Hungaricum, Berlin | |
| 2000 | MM endless, Deak Erika Gallery, Budapest |
| Art Narrative – Contemporary Hungarian Photography, Knoll Gallery, Budapest | |
| Fictitious Reality, Budapest Gallery, Budapest | |
| Out of Shape, City Museum of Gyor, Gyor | |
| What If, Moderna Museet, Stockholm | |
| New Topics, Kunstverein Neuhausen, Neuhausen, Fildern | |
| UndabdiePost 2000, Postfuramt, Berlin | |
| Crosstalk, Mucsarnok - Kunsthalle, Budapest | |
| Up to You !, Galeria SKUC, Ljubljana | |
| Media Model, Intermedia-C3, Mucsarnok - Kunsthalle, Budapest, H | |
| Cross female, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin | |
| In and Out, Galeria Kombetare e Arteve, Tirana | |
| T-Connection, Fabriek, Eindhoven | |
| 1999 | Remix, Gallery of Pecs, Pecs |
| Let’s take us seriously, Gallery by Night, Studio Gallery, Budapest | |
| Physiognomy, Salsburg | |
| Selfportrait as a young man, Usti Nad Labem | |
| The dreamfactory’s running smoothly, Trafo Gallery, Budapest | |
| Bloomsday, Gallery of Szombathely, Szombathely | |
| Young and Serious – Recycled Image, Ernst Museum, Budapest | |
| Contemporary Hungarian Photography, Dormitory-Cupola, Pecs | |
| Ma fine art students, Gallery of the London Institution, London | |
| The FKSE in Bukarest, Hungarian Institution, Bukarest | |
| Autumnal Show, Steven King Museum, Szekesfehervar | |
| Footwear things, P60 Gallery – Artpool, Budapest | |
| The Stockholm Connection, ACC Galerie, Weimar | |
| 1998 | Intimate Strangers, Gallery by night, Studio Gallery, Budapest |
| Obserwatorium, Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw |
Public Collections
NBK− Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin
FRAC - Basse-Normandie, Caen
DZ Bank Art Collection, Frankfurt
Ludwig Museum − Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest
Institute of Contemporary Art − Dunaújváros
MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen
City Gallery of Győr
Publications – solo catalogues
2013 Red Ford Mondeo, booklet, textbook of the performance Contrawork (Version 1)
2011 Booklet of the catalogue Selected Artists 2011, Arbeitssstipendium für Bildene Kunst des Berliner Seants, RealismusStudio, NGBK, Berlin
2011 Crash - Passive Interview, 2/1, 2/2, catalogue of the exhibition, 54th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, Hungarian Pavilion
2010 2 Songs 1 End, catalogue of the exhibition, MODEM Debrecen
2010 Crash – Passive Interview, catalogue of the exhibition, Museum Kiscell – Municipal Picture Gallery, Budapest
2010 Németh Hajnal – Contemporary Photography from Hungary 5, Faur Zsófia – Ráday Galéria
Filmography
White Song / concert film, 2017, 13' (author and director)
Work Song – As Time Goes By / musical film, 2016, 65' (author and director)
Imagine War – Band Version / concert film, 2015, 33' (author and director)
Imagine War – Solo Version / concert film, 2014, 31' (author and director)
Work Song / musical film, 2014, 72' (author and director)
False Testimony – Version 3 / operatic film, 2013, 17' (author and director)
False Testimony – One Version of the Version / operatic film, 2012, 18' (author and director)
The Loser / operatic film, 2012, 40' (author and director)
Contrawork / performance film, 2011, 43' (author and director)
Crash – Passive Interview / operatic film, 2011, 90' (author and director)
Joe Contra Joe / video, 2010, 4'50” (director)
Air Out / video, 2008, 4'30” (director)
Desney and Destiny / video, 2007, 12' (director)
Recording Room / video, 2006, 12' (director)
Gogo 01 / video, 2004, 6' (director)
Gogo 04 / video 2004, 8' (director)
Stereoheart / video, 2003, 7' (director)
Bar 24 / video, 2003, 3'50” (director)