László Lukácsi is a Noémi Ferenczy award-winning glass sculptor, a highly esteemed artist and outstanding personality of Hungarian and international contemporary glass art. Since the beginning of his career, he has been a constant presence in prestigious European and overseas forums of the genre. He has exhibited his sculptures and glass sculpture series in more than 150 solo and group exhibitions, and has also participated in exhibitions and glass symposia abroad, including in The Hague, Brussels, Hamburg, Paris, London, Frauenau, Kanazawa, Chicago, and other cities. His work was quickly noticed by international critics and galleries, and his exhibitions were awarded several prizes by the professional audience. His first successes were achieved early in his career, in 1990, when he won the prize of the 1st Tihany Glass Triennial of the Association of Hungarian Artists and Craftsmen and the special prize of Jugend Gestaltet in Munich. Two years later, in 1992, he won the Kyohei Fujita Prize at the International Glass Art Exhibition in Kanazawa, Japan. In 2010, he achieved the most outstanding success of his career at this exhibition, winning a gold medal for his fan sculpture, which is almost one metre wide. In 2014, he won the Special Jury Prize at the Contemporary European Glass Art Competition in Coburg, Germany, for a fan sculpture, also in flat glass.
His work is characterised by organic and plastic shapes, and the light and colourful world of his well-balanced layered, glued glass constructions evokes an intense sensory impact. He is a meditative artist who derives pleasure and inspiration from the study of natural phenomena, the beauty and structural perfection of birds' wings sailing in the wind, rainbow fish fins, smoothly worn pebbles, sparkling water droplets, varied shapes of fruit and leaves, pearly shells, and the impressions gained through the form- and colour-altering effects of sunlight. “Nature is the greatest sculptor.” It is the phrase that sums up his conviction to live in harmony with nature and to capture its motifs in his art. It is an idea that reflects the wisdom and philosophy of life of Far Eastern cultures, their infinite respect for nature, and it is no coincidence that his works are a great success in Japan.
His creations combine the lessons of several artistic movements and working techniques. At its roots are the formalism of the Bauhaus, the decorative art of Art Deco, op-art and kinetic art based on the effects of light and movement, the Hungarian iridescent glass, the innovative teaching spirit of Júlia Báthory and György Z. Gács, who encouraged experiments with materials and forms. These lessons were passed on to László Lukácsi's art during his studies at the Képző- és Iparművészeti Szakközépiskola (Budapest Secondary School of Fine and Applied Arts) and later at the Magyar Iparművészeti Főiskola (Hungarian College of Applied Arts) by renowned teachers of great knowledge, such as the symbolic glass, Zoltán Bohus, the “light sculptor” who masterfully revealed the layers of symbolic and mystical meaning, Márton Horváth, who conjured up the relationship between glass and light into poetic with his intricate glass and vessel sculptures, and Zsuzsa Vida, an experimentalist with international experience.
László Lukácsi was fascinated by the material of glass from a young age, and it was at his father's workplace, in the Műszaki Üvegipari Szövetkezet (Technical Glass Industry Cooperative), that he first became acquainted with “the wonderful material of glass”, the techniques of glass cutting and mirror making. It was there that he first cut and polished glass, where he first fell in love with this special material and where, due to his sensitivity, he first experienced the artistic potential of glass. This love of the material later developed into a professional vocation during his secondary school years and then, from 1980 onwards, during his college years.
During his career, his work was characterised by multi-directional experimentation. It was a period of searching for new paths, blowing coloured glass in his self-made mini-hut, creating “bubble” objects, inspired by the fusion of glass and flame, the glow that ennobles this process into alchemy, and which becomes the almost spiritual sensual-aesthetic essence of his later works.
In this experimental phase of his work, he not only worked with hot-glass shaping, but also discovered the diversity of optical effects created by the stacking of sliding glass and mirror plates, and later, by further refining the technique, the variation possibilities offered by the fan-glued, layered mirror constructions developed into space-plastics. Overnight, he abandoned his hut work to start working on new technical possibilities for his new concept. As a result, he has found a means of expression that is characterised by the craft of elaboration and the speculative representation of light-space-matter relations. Many optical experiments have inspired him, and continue to do so, to create new glass objects, while the experience gained through persistent and patient work has made him a master of cold working flat glass.
His early prismatic sculptures are geometric-forms, and in the 1990s he gradually moved to more organic motifs, emphasising the visual play of convex and concave curves. He thinks in simple, natural shapes, his forms are sensitive to changes in light, their solid solidity is counterbalanced by the rays of light refracted on the glass layers. He constructs his sculptures from coloured, iridescent or colourless glass sheets and mirrors, laminating them, and modelling the surfaces of his meticulously constructed objects by careful sanding, polishing and acidifying. He achieves colour tones by varying the thickness of the glass layers and the quality of the polishing, polishing his sculptures to a glossy or silky sheen, thus igniting the inner fire of the forms that is the individuality of each of his sculptures.
The fan is a recurring theme in his art, which has become almost emblematic, and, as he says, the variations of this theme, obtained by combining different types of glass in different sizes, colours, shapes, effects and surfaces, still offer him countless possibilities for further experimentation. It is an associative form: its source is a tool used from ancient times to cool, to heat fire, to protect against the scorching sun, an object that evokes cold and warm effects, just like László Lukácsi's fan sculptures reflecting light-shadow relationships. Their radially drawn, cold, polished surfaces allow the light to move when viewed from different angles, the colour changes of the glass layers reflecting the state of the environment and the movement of the viewer. As the light rays move in different directions, the sculptures' original heavy blocks become almost airy, luminous beings, the shapes of the glass body constantly changing, the colours glowing and fading, light not just a technical tool but the essence of his sculptures. Space is created around them and they have a “vital” energy that draws the viewer's gaze and evokes a desire to touch the work, a sensory experience that can be experienced through touch.
This intensive exposure has led to several international awards, including a gold medal at the 2010 International Glass Art Exhibition in Kanazawa. In his award-winning work, which evokes elements of Japanese traditional culture, he says, “the semi-transparent mirrors, the bluish-green hue and the form and lines that emerge from the curved grinding create an exciting, interesting, soft, gentle effect.” It is worth mentioning that he was awarded first prize at the prestigious event, out of 470 artists from 39 countries.
In the 1990s, László Lukácsi was not only concerned with the creation of autonomous works, but also with the possibilities of glass in applied fields. Together with his wife Dorka Borbás, a glass artist, he created a number of architecturally related works designed for community and private assignments. In later years, he also experimented with the use of inscriptions, emblems and drawings in glass blocks for assignments for glass decorations and commemorative glass objects. Beyond these rare detours, however, his activity is directed towards sculpture that does not restrict artistic freedom. In addition to creating sculptures, he also works on figurative glass reliefs, the optical effect of which is created by the contrasts between glossy and matt, smooth and brushed surfaces.
László Lukácsi's work is characterised by high technical knowledge, excellent knowledge of materials, high precision, masterly quality of workmanship, deep respect for nature and commitment to glass art. He approaches his beloved material, glass, with humility and a sculptural eye, and his works say no more than that: they are objects of beauty, radiating ethereal light and giving pleasure.
In 2002, he received a Noémi Ferenczy award from the Hungarian State for his work.
His art has been the subject of numerous writings, some of which are quoted from László Lukácsi's solo album published in 2012.
“The profound order and orderliness of László Lukácsi's glass sculptures could be compared to the regularity of a musical fugue: the mathematical precision and structure that gives the work its basis and scale, unfolding in the beauty of harmony, harmony, decorativeness and artistry. In his works of art, the most elementary comparison between Gothic and Baroque becomes apparent: the illusion created by hidden mirrors to complement the beautiful in its structure and majesty. Thus László Lukácsi's sculptures become glass magic, variations on the magic of glass.” (Andrea Máté, aesthete)
“László Lukácsi's sculptural demands and totally plastic works are strongly determined by their materiality and the physical specificities that result from their materiality, i.e. by the exploitation of the plastic possibilities of these specificities. The aura, the plastic atmosphere, the phenomenology, the meaning and the formal beauty of a Lukács work are the result of the interplay, the flickering, the clashing, the fusion of the unbelievably enigmatic, cellular internal structure with the unheard-of clarity and clarity of the “external” formal order of fantastic precision and execution.” (Tibor Wehner, art historian)
“His works are geometric, spatial shapes, pyramids, rainbow-shaped cut-outs developed into spatial plasticity, made of elements assembled according to a rigorous plan and executed with infinite precision. These rigidly constructive forms are dissolved by the solar glow of iridescence into a living, moving, yet timeless effect.” (Vera Varga, art historian)
“The Gold Medal is awarded to a sculpture that goes beyond the senses to the intellect. Its interpretation is familiar, yet it offers new information. The object is composed of layers of glued flat glass, and its final shape and surface is obtained by sanding. When exhibited, this work visually creates a sense of kinetic illusion, an experience of imaginary movement. It is physically solid, but as you walk around it, its context and imagery are exciting and ever-changing. We discussed in the committee, using this work as an example, that if we were to compare glass art to language, we would find that there are countless dialects of this language.” (Naoto Yokoyama and Jun Fujita. Excerpts from the Kanazawa Prize jury evaluation)
[2014]