Tibor Iski Kocsis's first solo exhibition in Turkey, "The Silence of Light," is on display at the Hungarian Cultural Center...
"The Silence of Light," bringing together selected works from nearly 30 years of artistic output by Tibor Iski Kocsis, a prominent figure in contemporary Hungarian art—painter, curator, and art educator—will be on display at the Hungarian Cultural Center from September 10, 2026, to February 5, 2027.
Bringing together an artist's nearly thirty years of work in a single exhibition inevitably evokes a retrospective. However, Tibor Iski Kocsis's first solo exhibition in Istanbul, "The Silence of Light," does not follow such a chronology. Works produced in different periods are brought together in a way that establishes new relationships, regardless of their original creation dates. The common axis in the exhibition, where painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, and graphic techniques are juxtaposed, is light. The exhibition, which brings together selected paintings, monumental charcoal drawings, photographs, sculptures, and graphic works from his nearly 30-year career, focuses on the relationship between light, nature, human-shaped culture, and the universe. The relationship between the Sun, Moon, and Earth is considered by the artist as one of the fundamental elements determining how humans perceive the world and the formation of culture.
Born in Kisvárda in 1972, iski Kocsis studied painting at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in Budapest from 1996 to 2001. In 2004, he completed his diploma in art history and visual arts education at the same university. Since 1997, the artist has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Hungary and other countries, and since 2008, he has also worked in curatorship and art organization. A founding member and art director of VILTIN Gallery, iski Kocsis has also been teaching art since 2015. Since 2025, she has been teaching painting at Eszterházy Károly University.
Production from Painting to Concept
İski Kocsis's work extends beyond classical landscape painting. The artist is interested in the conceptual possibilities of painting; she connects the theoretical and philosophical thought behind her productions with visual forms. The social context of the time, the intellectual process of art production, and the relationship between painting and reality are recurring themes in her work. In her early works, social and political issues are more directly highlighted. While her Ecotourism series, which began in 2000, focused on ecological problems, her Identitás works, developed from 2003 onwards, addressed the social consequences of migration movements from Afghanistan and Iraq in Europe. Later, the artist, who focused on nature images, began to rethink 'nature painting' through different media from 2007 onwards. Her use of photography, painting, drawing, and video as parts of the same research forms the basis of the interdisciplinary structure in her work.
In this approach, nature emerges not merely as a depicted image, but as a space transformed by human intervention. In the artist's work, the natural environment, the city, agriculture, ecological destruction, and the relationship between humans and their environment are interconnected through different series. The combination of classical painting techniques with details approaching photographic realism in İski Kocsis's paintings is also part of this quest.
From “Ecotourism” to “LUNA”
One of the significant turning points in the artist's career was the “Ecotourism” series. Spanning the period 1999-2005, these works address the relationship between humans and nature and ecological destruction. The “SUPERNATURAL” series, developed between 2005-2009, continued his work on nature, landscapes, and how humans perceive nature. In “The Silence of Light,” selected works from these periods are read in conjunction with the cosmic and metaphysical references in the artist's later works.
The “LUNA” series is one of the periods in which the artist focused on the moon and night landscapes. Developed between 2012 and 2018, the series includes works in which the artist increasingly removes the human figure from the depiction of nature, placing it within a broader cosmic context. In 2015, he held solo exhibitions titled “LUNA-1972” at the VILTIN Gallery, and in 2016, “LUNA” at the Szent István Király Museum in Székesfehérvár.
The artist's large-scale charcoal drawings are also a distinctive feature of this period. In 2021, “Night Landing” at the Mucsarnok/Kunsthalle in Budapest and “Landfall” at the VILTIN Gallery were two significant solo exhibitions where İski Kocsis explored the relationship between nature, humanity, and the world through various materials. In Landfall, different techniques such as oil paint, silver, charcoal, and acrylic were used in conjunction with folded, cut, bent, or shaped surfaces.
The Line Between Human and Nature
In İski Kocsis's work, the presence or absence of the human figure is as important as its presence. His "Cum dederit" series, spanning 2018-2024, addresses the idea of culture and humanity through metaphors without directly depicting the human figure. In "The Silence of Light," the juxtaposition of these works with pieces from his "Ecotourism," "SUPERNATURAL," and "LUNA" series brings together different periods of his nearly three-decade artistic output on the same intellectual axis.
The artist's research into the relationship between humans and the environment has also found recognition in his international exhibitions. In 2016, he participated in the "Rain Come Down! – Domesticated Environments – The Hungarian Attitudes" exhibition at the z2o Sara Zanin Gallery in Rome, a selection focusing on the relationship between Hungarian artists and the environment. In 2018, he participated in the "Intriguing Uncertainties" exhibition at The Parkview Museum in Singapore. His works were also shown at the 2019 edition of the same exhibition held at the Parkview Museum in Beijing.
The artist, whose works have also been exhibited in important museums and art institutions in Hungary, was featured in exhibitions such as “TechnoCool. New Trends in Hungarian Art in the Nineties” (1989-2001) at the Hungarian National Gallery in 2023, and “Habitat: Nature and Landscape Constructions” at the same institution in 2025.
Awards and Collections
Iski Kocsis's significant awards in his art career include the 1999 Ludwig Foundation Fellowship, the 2002 STRABAG Painting Prize, the 2004 Hungarian Academy of Rome Fellowship, and the Derkovits Fellowship (2004-2007). In 2018, the artist was awarded the ‘Munkácsy Mihály Prize’, one of Hungary's important state awards in the field of visual arts. Between 2018 and 2021, she participated in the Hungarian Academy of Arts' art fellowship program. Serving as a member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts from 2025 onwards, her works are included in public collections such as the Hungarian National Gallery, the Szent István Király Museum in Székesfehérvár, and the Kortárs Muvészeti Intézet in Dunaújváros, as well as various international and private collections.
From Artist to Curator
Following İski Kocsis' career solely through her own work leaves out a significant portion of her work. The artist has also been a curator for a long time. Since 2008, she has been associated with the curation or organization of more than 150 exhibitions both domestically and internationally. In addition to her role as art director of VILTIN Gallery, she also serves as a curator in exhibition programs for various institutions.
The “Essentia Artis” exhibition, held in Budapest in 2026, is a contemporary example of these works. Curated by Tibor Iski Kocsis, Judit Józsa, and Bálint Szalai, the exhibition brought together the works of the 2025 graduates of the Hungarian Academy of Arts art fellowship program. Featuring works from diverse disciplines, the exhibition encompassed a wide range of artistic production, from painting and photography to design, architecture, and traditional crafts. Iski Kocsis was also among the curators of the “Essentia Artis” exhibition shown at the Hungarian Cultural Centre in London in 2026.
“The Silence of Light”: A Meeting of Different Periods
The Istanbul exhibition is built around four fundamental groups of motifs: monumental moonscapes, daytime and twilight skies, traces of human-made culture, and wooden portraits titled “HOME,” produced between 2023 and 2026. Tree motifs, as metaphors for living nature, are spread throughout different sections of the exhibition, while color fields allude to the light spectrum and the colors of the rainbow.
The exhibition includes works from the "SUPERNATURAL" (2005-2009), "LUNA" (2012-2018), early "Ecotourism" (1999-2005), "HOME," and "Cum dederit" (2018-2024) series. Thus, the artist's early work, ranging from ecological concerns to studies of the moon and sky, from research on humanity and culture to his recent wooden portraits, is brought together in the same space.
The fact that the exhibition is not defined as a retrospective, despite bringing together works from different periods, is therefore significant. The works are not arranged in chronological order, but rather through new relationships established around light, nature, culture, and the universe. The presence of monumental charcoal drawings, photographs, sculptures, and graphic works alongside paintings makes İski Kocsis's research in various mediums visible within the same exhibition.
First solo exhibition in Istanbul
"The Silence of Light," hosted by the Hungarian Cultural Center, is Tibor Iski Kocsis's first solo exhibition in Turkey. The opening will take place on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at 7:00 PM. The works will be on display until February 5, 2027.
Source: https://www.milliyetsanat.com/haberler/diger/isigin-pesinde/36738