Viola Fátyol: If you have a heart, what you did to me hurts you too

Visiting is free of charge
October 20, 2017 - November 20, 2017.
Every day between 11 am - 7 pm.
Curator: Judit Gellér
Capa Center Project Room

Our identity may be imagined as a continuously changing and re-edited life story, which is largely influenced by the formative power of the different relationships and communities. People entering our communities shape and enrich our lives, while we experience their departure as a loss.

Viola Fátyol started working with the members of the Folklore Choral Society of Vámospércs in 2013. During the time spent together, the initial participatory observation eventually transformed into a mutually supportive friendship. During the common singing practice, the young author slowly became a member of the group; she did not only get a uniform and got to take part in the performances but found supportive partners for her personal development as well. The experience-based pieces of advice and individual life stories of the older generation, as well as the lines of folksongs, meant an important point of reference for her going through the easier and more difficult phases of life, and getting along in the intricate maze of love. As human relationships themselves change, so did the creative process transform, in which the author of the images slowly became one of the subjects of the pictures as well.

The photo series that was molded over several years and built on the traditions of documentary photography captured the everyday life of the choir members, and it was gradually expanded with new and new elements. The unique portraits were taken in the moments of singing, so it is difficult to decide if they reflect dramatic or happy feelings, or monotony, and whether they should be interpreted as death portraiture or icons. The work will be finalized in the form of a photobook, including the complete photo series and the collected quotations, structured into several chapters.

The community of the choir generated a years-long cooperation and collective creative work, which reflects the inherent power in social and group life, as well as how singing makes you forget your sorrow and fills you with relief and joy.

Judit Gellér
curator

Viola Fátyol photographer was born in Debrecen in 1983. She completed her college studies a teacher of drawing and visual communications at the Eszterházy Károly College, Eger, Hungary, then she earned further degrees at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design as a teacher of culture and visual environment, and also as a photography major at the visual communications department. In 2010, she studied at the Willem de Kooning Academie, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. At present, she is a DLA student at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, and teaches at the Photography Department. Since 2008, she regularly presents her work in joint and solo exhibitions, both in Hungary and abroad. Since 2010, she has been a member of the Studio of Young Artists. Her work has been awarded different fellowships and prizes (Essl Award, Vienna Insurance Group, Special Invitation, Vienna, 2009; Cité Internationales des Arts, residence program, Paris, 2015, Pécsi József Photography Grant, 2016; Robert Capa Hungarian Photography Grand Prize, 2016; Gyula Derkovits Art Fellowship 2017).