Biography
The name of András Orvos has been intertwined with hyper-realistic-surrealistic magnified flower images inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe, James Rosenquist and Andy Warhol, and László Lakner since the 1970s. Few know that the his oeuvre is solely dominated by floral motifs; his works, made in the late sixties and early seventies, follow the lyrical abstract style features of post-war Hungary.
Orvos received his first education of fine arts at the local free school of the Impressionist painter József Mokos. Between 1958 and 1963 he was a student of the textile design department of the Hungarian College of Applied Arts. Between 1963 and 1977 he worked as a primary school drawing teacher in Budapest. In the Torch Club Pedagogical Art Studio, he met György Litkey, László Deák and Elek Lisziák. In 1969 he organized his first exhibition at the primary school on Tömöri Street in Budapest. Here he met Gyula Szeift, who invited him to a fine art exhibition organized by Ottó Mezei at the Derkovits Club in Újpest. The No. 1 artist group was founded with László Deák, Kálmán Kecskeméti and Elek Lisziák, whom they often met at the apartment of Pál Petrigalla, which operated between 1969 and 1971.
Between 1971 and 1974 he was the organizer and participant of the Balatonboglár Chapel Exhibitions. He exhibited in 1972 in the Bright Adolf Hall. From 1978 to 1986, he was the director of the Moholy studio in Angyalföld. His drawings appeared regularly in Life and Literature at the same time. From 1986 he started working in the Creative House in Vác.
Orvos’ work balances on the border of naturalism and abstraction. His landscapes are inspired by the Danube Bend, and his still lifes are based on plant motifs embedded in a geometric structure. He enlarges a detail in his paintings, composes it into decorative versions with a pop-art montage technique, and displays it in color and sculpture. Orvos with Imre Kocsis, Ádám Kéri and Ákos Birkás belong to the generation following the surnaturalists.
