MARIANNA BOTTYAN at Direct Art Action UK

About

I was born in Budapest to a family of artists in 1967. Under the supervision of painter Gábor Zaborszky
and graphic artist László Konstantin, I studied the arts in Budapest. Since 1990 I’ve worked at the Kolló
Miklós Pantomime Theatre as a costume designer. Furthermore, I worked at “The Art of Dance” journal
(Táncművészét) as the paper’s graphic artist for 10 years. Professionally, I’ve worked as an artist since
1993. I’ve been a member of the Hungarian National Artists’ Association since 2001. I define myself as a
“plein-air” artist, which is why I regularly spend time painting outside, at artist groups and artist camps in
Hungary and abroad. However, galleries and my home also inspire me. I live in the Budafok, Rózsavölgy
neighbourhood in Budapest with my daughter and my mother, Halácsy Mária, who is also a painter. In
1998 I discovered the amazing aquatic world of Szigetköz, which impelled me to return there multiple
times to paint throughout the course of the following 10 years. Many of my independent exhibitions’
work was completed in this time period. Another of my important painting locations is Hvar, a beautiful
Dalmatian island, where Molnár Károly’s artist nursery operated for a long time. I returned to this island
to paint for a month every spring and autumn for another timespan of 10 years since 2009. Yet, the idea of
sharing my experience has excited me for years, which is why I also run an art school under the name of
“ArtNatura”. Here, my students have the opportunity to learn the art of working in “plein- air” and to
master the depiction of nature in painting and drawing. The school regularly organizes camps and
workshops, which last several days. I am also a frequent visitor of artcmeetings, attendance is by
invitation only such as those in Velky Meder/ Slovakia, Tihany, Császártöltés , Zalaszentgyörgy, Izsák,
Söjtör, or Alsópáhok. This year, for instance, I was invited to the Baia Sprie (Romania) art group in
October, where all work is completed according to the county’s traditions. Apart from being invited to
such events, I also organize art workshop every September in Söjtör, Zala County, to which we invite
professional artists. In the past years, some of my more significant independent exhibitions were
displayed at the Cluj Hungarian Operahouse and the Petofi Theatre in Veszprem County in 2016. In 2017
in the Pest Fashion Magazine (Pesti Divat Magazin) and in November 2018 in the Diplomat Magazine
(Diplomata Magazin) two introductory articles were published about me. Since I am primarily interested

in the effects of light, nature and different aquatic phenomena, furthermore in portrait and figurative
themes, I look to find locations and models which provide me with a unique visual experience and inspire
me to express their inner and outer beauty. My overall goal is to communicate my first impressions of joy
and awe that each scene evoked in me with the spectators, using my own artistic tools. I mostly paint on
canvas, fibreboard and aquarelle paper, using oil and aquarelle painting techniques. Moreover, I do not
have limitations to which artistic genres I paint; landscape, still-life, nudes, portrait, figural art and animal
depictions all equally interest me. Since 1993, I’ve held over 40 independent exhibitions, namely: 1993
Fehérgyarmat 1995 ,2000 Esztergom1996, 2000, 2004 2012 Budapest1998 , 2000 Szombathely1998,
2002 , 2012 Mosonmagyaróvár2000 Kapolcs, Artists Valley (Művészetek Völgye) 2008 Vienna 1002,
2010 Balatongyörök / in collaboration with my mother /2011 Hvar / Croatia /2012. Budapest,
Mosonmagyaróvár2013 2014. Budapest2016 Gyenesdiás Budapest Cluj Veszprém2017 Budapest
Gyenesdiás Balatongyörök2018 Pécs (c) MARIANNA BOTTYAN