Attila Richard Lukács | |
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Born | 1962 (age 61–62) |
Education | University of Victoria, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design |
Known for | Painter |
Attila Richard Lukács (born 1962)[1] is a Canadian artist.
Lukács gained international attention via his E-werk series—a collection of very large figure paintings that he created in the 1980s and 90s, while living in Berlin.
The paintings featured nude and semi-nude skinheads, who were depicted in heroic and classical poses in chiaroscuro, reminiscent of Renaissance art.[2][3][4][5] The paintings were considered provocative due to their depictions of homosexuality, sadomasochism and fascistic symbolism.[1][6][7][8]
Attila Richard Lukacs' six monumental canvases known collectively as the E-Werk series--on display this summer at the Morris and Hellen Belkin Art Gallery at the University of British Columbia--stake out the same high ground. These are history paintings wrought in a chaotic, splintering, post-modern age. Without a doubt, they establish Lukacs as one of the three or four most important artists Canada has produced in the past 50 years. [The E-werk paintings] are shockingly large. Some people recoil from these paintings because they perceive them to be testosterone-suffused paeans to fascism and homosexuality. Or to patriarchy. Or to self-indulgence. You could say that there is something for everyone to hate in the E-werk show. But that misses the true meaning, misses the overarching greatness of these works. Superficially, Lukacs' squads of burly young men may indeed sport the trappings of racist skinheads. Maybe there is a homoerotic sheen to some of the goings-on here. But the scowling, tattooed thugs of This Town, are hard at work, rebuilding a neglected part of Berlin (in this case, pointedly, the plaza in front of the celebrated Altes Museum.)