Ákos Tamás Exhibition

• 18. March 2004. - 08. August 2004.

I have had close links with Herend Porcelain since childhood, for I was born in the nearby village of Szentgál. Herend always meant to my mind a treasure as fine as a jewel, whose aura ever conveys the care, refinement and enthusiasm of its makers.

For that reason, I call every piece of Herend, even the lowliest saucer, a work of art in the finest sense of the word.

I turn, as a designer, to the 'white gold' of the porcelain material with the same respect, witnessing day by day its unexampled metamorphosis, as the fluid paste hardens to its final shape, translated by the heat of the kiln, into one of the hardest materials on earth.

This is an aristocratic, sensitive material, but one that with a little designing ingenuity, can be made to convey indirectly the tectonics of stone, the layers of minerals and the organic structures of plants. It can be paper thin like the petals of flowers, as evocatively translucent as alabaster, or as robust as rock-as I will. It almost seems to breathe, a living material. Alongside my traditional works, I have always sought to express contemporary ideas in this classic material, and thereby entice a younger generation to Herend.

Most of my work consists of organic porcelain, which means that my shapes are inspired by natural phenomena and the works themselves are built up organically, as Nature does, layer by layer, or petal by petal, in the case of the thin tinted porcelain layers of my Petal Bowl Collection. However, the layered vases and plates reminiscent of coral or flowers conjure up Nature in an abstract way, not a reproductive one.

That was also how I thought when I was making the rose windows of tinted, inlaid, pierced porcelain. On the other hand, I cannot avoid a dash of humour, derived from my temperament, as I mould and condense my mythological figures into grotesque pyramids and bricks, shutting them irrevocably into ancient human symbols.

The main role in all my collections so far has been played by the ancient skills of the manufactory: craftsmanship and 'manual intelligence', the most important tradition at Herend. My principle has always been to live by that tradition, but create for today. I see to preserve the material nature of porcelain, while creating, by hand and with original techniques, a new aesthetic quality, something personal, original and emblematically recognizable.

With the modest means at my disposal, I try to increase Herend's immeasurable wealth of patterns, contributing something of the spirit and tastes of our times to the Herend range.

Finally, I recommend Herend Porcelain to all who are interested with the same mild gesture made by the angels I modelled for the space above the new front entrance to the manufactory, as 'allegories of porcelain making'.

Selected awards received by Ákos Tamás
1981: Prize of the Society of Urban Studies.
1982: Quality Award for Industrial Design, Budapest;
Prize of the Ministry of Construction and Urban Development.
1988: Quality Award at the Northern Transdanubian Applied Arts Exhibition, Tihany.
1989, 1990 and 1992: Quality Awards at the Spring Exhibition, Veszprém.
1993: Quality Award for Industrial Design, Budapest: Prime Minister's Special Prize.

Public collections containing works by Ákos Tamás
Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest.
Herend Porcelain Museum, Herend.
Janus Pannonius Museum, Pécs.
Ceramics Centre Collection, Siklós.
Dezsô Laczkó Museum, Veszprém.

Works in public places and buildings
1984: Porcelain world map, conference room, Herend Porcelain Manufactory (150 x 360 cm).
1998: 'Family', porcelain sculpture, before the County Hospital, Veszprém (140 x 150 x 300 cm).
1999: Rose window in porcelain, conference hall, Herend Porcelain Manufactory (120 cm in diameter).
2000: Allegorical statues of angels, main entrance, Herend Porcelain Manufactory (220 cm high).