Demon Structure

Masks and disguises are not appearing for the first time in Győző Sárkány’s oeuvre, but while the earlier works can be interpreted primarily in their cultural-historical context, the current Demon Structure series consisting of twenty sheets is rather a perceptible imprint of the artist’s current state of mind. Our fears, uncertainties, threats, and helplessness are formed into newer and newer demonic effigies, then disappear in a throbbing pulsation.

In the structures built on the strong contrast of black and white, one can almost feel the flow of form particles, the indifference of the uninterruptible process. The experiences of earlier minimalist photo-graphics are summarized here in the rich and meticulously elaborated texture handling of the individual pen drawings’ compositions. Emerging and fading demonic images appear on the surface and transform into indefinable spatial concepts ready to float out from the plane. We can almost feel the weight and density of the material in the creases, in the downward-reaching jagged forms. In the earlier photos, the variety of surface swirling of flowing water inspired by a stream now shapes the composition through the freely forming system of structures breaking down into tiny particles and then rearranging. In some places, multiple formations crowd together in a single picture space, evoking associations of frightening images, while elsewhere the picture field becomes homogeneous and seems to settle down. While for the Greeks, the daimons merely referred to the supernatural, for us only the meaning of evil spirits remains. And although the demonic facial images induce personal interpretations in everyone, we still precisely understand the artist’s message.

 Ildikó D. Udvary art historian