A report published on the website of the Hungarian Academy of Arts about sculptor János Nagy's 2014 exhibition in Budapest described the presentation of a diverse and complex sculptural oeuvre firmly rooted in classical traditions:
“János Nagy's works reflect his knowledge of thousands of years of artistic achievements. Traces of archaic sculpture, nineteenth-century traditions – particularly the work of Miklós Izsó – and twentieth-century formal innovations can all be discerned in his art. The artist is equally at home in the world of small plaques and large-scale public sculptures. For example, the works Sírbatétel (Entombment) and Bulcsu vezér (Chieftain Bulcsu), presented here as small sculptures, also exist as public monuments in Ipolybalog and Búcs, respectively. From portrait medals striving for realism (including those depicting Csokonai, Bartók and Ady among the exhibited works) to almost entirely abstract sculptures – such as Botoló (Stick Dance), which traces the path of a stick through space during a traditional stick dance – he employs various degrees of abstraction while maintaining a remarkably coherent formal language. The vitality of János Nagy's figures is striking. Their vigour and liveliness remain palpable even when they find themselves in seemingly hopeless situations. His bronze sculptures – such as Szent István (Saint Stephen), Erők (Forces) and Lovas (Horseman) – generally commemorate human endeavour in pursuit of a noble cause, the superhuman struggle to overcome evil that only heroes can undertake, and which, without divine grace, would amount to a futile Sisyphean task. At the same time, this struggle is also evident in the artist's creative process, as he wrestles with his material, bronze, exploring its possibilities. The openwork structure of his equestrian statue of Balassi is impressive not only for its dynamism but also for its deliberate exposure of the hollow interior characteristic of large bronze sculptures. Elsewhere, however, particularly in his plaques and wood carvings, a more disciplined treatment of traditional elements stands out, such as the palmette motif on the work depicting Álmos. His idols evoke the world of prehistoric sculpture. Almost half of the works on display are equestrian sculptures. The behaviour and posture of horses are particularly well suited to expressing other meanings, such as the collective state of mind of a people. Alongside representations of Hungarian cultural history and historical events, a recurring theme in János Nagy's art is the troubled fate of the Hungarian people following the Treaty of Trianon. His sculpture Kitelepítés (Deportation) is a profoundly moving example. Human hands modelled in wax reach through iron bars representing the opening of a cattle wagon. They exemplify different human responses to a crisis: rebellion, resignation and farewell. The work's dimensions can be interpreted in both temporal and spatial terms: the hands may belong to several people at the same moment, or to a single person at different stages of their emotional experience. Despite its small size, the work has a monumental impact. Wax proves to be an extraordinarily expressive material: living, pulsating and warm. Like a severed limb, it conveys the tragedy of being torn from one's homeland.”
János Nagy's life and oeuvre is connected to the Danube region by a thousand threads: he was born in Budapest – more precisely in one of the Hungarian capital's back then independent peripheral villages –, finished his schooling in Révkomárom, Slovakia, then went to college in Bratislava, and then worked for many years in the settlements of Czechoslovakia and Slovakia along the Danube. However, his oeuvre, which at certain times was based in a completely isolated artistic milieu, was not entirely unknown in Hungarian art circles either: he worked repeatedly as a participant in art workshops, was often featured in collective exhibitions in Hungarian art forums, and from the 1980s onwards he increasingly presented solo exhibitions of his own collections. These exhibitions have shown that János Nagy is an artist active in all branches of sculpture: monumental compositions, medium-sized sculptures for exhibitions, small sculptures, medals and plaques are all produced in his studio. The oeuvre is also diverse in terms of genre: traditional portraiture, unique figures and group portraits captured with a naturalistic approach are as much an integral part of the oeuvre as are highly stylized and abstract compositions. He is equally at home in the plastic medium of sculpture in the round, sculpture in space and relief, and is a dedicated medalist, producing both commissioned occasional coins and plaques expressing autonomous artistic thought. He also works in a variety of materials and techniques: he carves wood and stone, sculpts wax and clay, casts his works in bronze, and often works, embosses and solderes copper plate. His biography tells us that he has created many monumental works of art for the villages in the Highlands and along the Danube, including memorials, commemorative statues, portraits, decorative works and relief plaques. One of his most significant works is the bronze statue of János Esterházy, which was placed in the Gesztenyés Garden in Budapest in 2013.
It is not difficult to draw the same conclusion from an examination of the epic and symbolically expressive reliefs, the solid, stylised figures, the naturalistic or realistic portraits, the abstract variations of form, the abstract plastic structures, that the creator of these sculptures was always boldly experimenting with the possibilities of plastic expression and form, and that nothing was further from his mind than rigidity and becoming stereotypical. Yet regardless of the nature and diversity of their representation and visual language, János Nagy's sculptures possess a distinctive quality, an atmospheric character that both lends them individuality and unifies them into a recognisable whole. Outwardly, this quality perhaps manifests itself in their robustness, idol-like appearance and ballad-like tone. It is characterised by a connection to iconographic traditions shrouded in the mists of the past, a profound inner intensity, an aura of mystery and a wealth of mystical meaning, all permeated by overflowing passion and powerful emotional fervour. Lajos Lóska, an art historian, in a study of Hungarian artists in Slovakia, says that the sculpture of Henry Moore is of decisive importance for János Nagy, both in terms of form - primarily through breakthroughs and negative spaces - and in terms of content - timelessness and archaization. These lessons have now become commonplace in modern sculpture: they have had an unprecedentedly powerful and stimulating influence on the work of artists still linked to the European sculptural tradition. Nevertheless, it can be said that, despite reflecting a disturbed equilibrium and identifying and revealing what is missing, one of the most important driving forces behind János Nagy's sculpture is the desire to seek unity: to explore similarities, points of connection and correspondences, and to express a longing for harmony. And if we uncover these underlying forces of content and form, discover the motivations behind the artistic questions he poses, and at the same time find the answers that can be, and have been, given to those questions, we can confidently conclude that this sculptural oeuvre emerged as a matter of necessity, and that it was equally inevitable that it should have come into being here, along the Danube: in an almost improbably existing cultural and artistic space, in an almost improbably existing Central Europe, sustained by absurdities and drifting into increasingly critical situations. This is why we may have such a profound need for János Nagy's sculptures, which radiate grandeur and humanity.
[2016]