ABOUT

BIO

As a queer artist to an immigrant family, Kinga Jakabffy (*1988, Bad Ischl) deals with questions of sexual ownership and identity empowerment. She often portrays caring interpersonal relationships between women, non-binary and trans people in self-aware poses, which are her attempt of raising attention to the fight for equal rights. This sense of loving collectiveness - which is one of the most important support systems in the LGBTQ+ community - may be depicted through dance, hugs or kisses. The subjects find a moment of warmth and freedom to be their true selves in the midst of inequality, abuse, harassment and even murder due to gender and sexual orientation.

Kinga‘s paintings echo a Mediterranean vibe, which unveils the softness and vulnerability, but also power of a person’s identity under the everyday mask. She is currently represented by the Artist Management Marschalek Art and the Viennese Gallery Kunst ab Hinterhof. Her autodidact artistic career and exhibitions of her work have been covered in multiple Austrian newspapers and international magazines. Kinga holds a master‘s degree in communication science and has a decade long experience in advertising. After studies and work in Sevilla, Montreal and Budapest, she now lives and works in Vienna.

ARTIST STATEMENT

A woman calls the police because she doesn’t feel safe. She reports abuse and harassment. The police take note but nothing more. A week later the woman is dead. She was locked at her workplace – a tobacco shop – and set on fire by the exact man who she reported to the police just a few days prior.

The terrible injustices that leave women, non-binary and trans people marginalized are the reason why Kinga’s work focuses on depicting these groups. Portraying them in self-aware poses are an attempt to raise attention and contribute to the fight for equal rights. The color blocks in her paintings represent pieces of bodies and personalities that have always been at the center of the male gaze and thus had to correspond to certain roles and beauty standards imposed on them. Kinga is looking for a way of representing the subjects that is not codified by the internalized male gaze, turning towards the main characters to learn about their own perceptions of identity and freedom.

Kinga’s work is driven by questions like: In which settings do you feel most comfortable and the most like yourself? In what ways do you wear a mask in your everyday life to fit a role expected of you? As a large portion of society feels entitled to judge your gender or sexual orientation, how do you find the freedom to be your true self?

As a queer artist to an immigrant family, Kinga deals with questions of sexual ownership and identity empowerment in general. She often portrays caring interpersonal relationships and a sense of loving collectiveness - which is one of the most important support systems in the LGBTQ+ community - may it be through dance, hugs or kisses. The subjects find a moment of warmth and freedom to be their true selves in the midst of inequality, abuse, harassment and even murder due to gender and sexual orientation.

Her brush-strokes are usually unnoticeably clean, which leaves the canvas almost design-like without any structure, referring to a polished version of self that is presented to the world. However, whenever a subject is portrayed in unprecise and bold brush strokes it is to show the inner turmoil of the person. Some symbols are reoccurring, for example fruits like apricots, lemons and pomegranates, which feed into the playfulness and sensuality of the work. The choker, a piece of velvet fabric that is worn around the neck is a symbol for the self-confidence of the subjects but also hints at being restricted and tied up.

The often Mediterranean setting aims to contrast these difficult topics by suggesting a feel-good moment. Portraying a seemingly beautiful status quo, the paintings capture a bubble of wonderful, self-determined memories, independence and celebration of life. These moments can be real or the object of longing in the face of a certain helplessness in the fight against a rigid system.

ART EXHIBITIONS

19-20. Nov. 2022 VIENNA ART WEEK, Open studio days

05.-06. Nov. 2022 POP UP BELLES CHOSES #1, mit Käthe Schönle, Lym Moreno, La petite galerie, Guckschatz, Atelierhaus Pelzgasse, 1150 Wien

06. - 11. Sept. 2022 PARALLEL VIENNA, 1180 Vienna

11. Nov. - 11. Dec. 2021 OPAK, mit Xenia Hausner, Erwin Wurm, Franz West, Franz Zadrazil, u.v.m., Leerstand Gallery, Kunst ab Hinterhof, Weihburggasse 11, 1010 Vienna

09. Nov. - 10. Dec. 2021 PRESS DAYS, Heroes & Heroines, 1070 Vienna

07. - 12. Sept. 2021 Parallel Art Fair, curated by Kunst ab Hinterhof, Vienna

25. - 29. May 2021 Support your local girl gang, Ausstellungsraum, Vienna

06. - 30. May 2021 Hoffnung. Group exhibition curated by Einflussraum, Vienna

08. Oct. – 31. January 2021 Nach wie vor. Group exhibition curated by Kunst ab Hinterhof, Orpheum, Graz

22. - 27.Sept. 2020 Parallel Art Fair, curated by Kunst ab Hinterhof, Vienna

23.-24. July 2020 Oxymoron Galerie, Lindengasse 65, 1070 Wien

15. May – 15. June 2020 Alone. Not Lonely. Group Exhibition, Einflussraum, Vienna

26. Apr. 2020 Junge Kunst Vol. Online Pt 04, Group Exhibition, Instagram

11. Oct. – 30. Oct. 2019 Wasserspiegel. Solo Show kuratiert von Junge Kunst, Süsswasser, Vienna

23. Mar. – 18 May 2019 Miniscule, Group Show, Crosslane Projects Kendal UK

8. Mar. 2019 Fundraiser Event Changes for Women by Improper Walls, Vienna