Sisyphus, 1997
Sisyphus, 1997
painted sheet metal and boulder
29” x 20” x 13”
Provenance:
13th Street Winery Permanent Collection since 2018
Literature:
Punished for being crafty and deceitful, Sisyphus in Greek mythology was forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity.
For Karoly, Sisyphus symbolizes the human who never gives up and always finding the courage to reach for the top, regardless the difficulties on his/her path. Fascinated with how boulders and stones are formed through the ages by glaciers, Karoly went through a phase where he featured boulders in many of his sculptures.
Critical Review by Rozsa Dancs
“Sisyphus is a beautiful sculpture. The word “beautiful” does not refer to the artist as a sentimentalist. He does not try to be either a moralist, or a teacher. A sensitive thinker? Yes, indeed, Veress’ philosophy relates to Camus’ theory on absurd…Looking at it, some might ask: what kept Sisyphus motivated to see the sunlight? Karoly Veress tells us by his grand work of art that through the full acceptance of the absurd we can still reject death by loving life and effort. That is the approach Sisyphus took. Instead of focusing on keeping the rock steady once he got to the top, he learned to love the simple motion of his action. This is the meaning of Sisyphus’ endeavor. This idea echoes in the message of Veress’ sculpture: the love of life….”
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About Karoly Veress
Karoly Veress (Dalnoki Veress, Karoly) (1935-2020) was born in the rugged mountains of Transylvania. The upheaval of the Second World War forced him to recognize the fragility of his environment and the system that shaped it. Veress studied literature at the University of Budapest and studying the Arts at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. For Veress sculpting is more than a discovery; it is an explosion of exploring human emotions, not through words, but through form. Veress once wrote, “I am put on the earth in the middle of creation. My life is a flight into the protection of others, and a flight back to loneliness to see if I still exist. I exist in making sculptures.”
Veress emphasizes that his work not only reflects the time of its creation, but must also have a timeless truth. Sculpture should not merely be a translation of the human experience into form, but should also explore the aspect of the human psyche that is detached from everyday life – from actuality. Art is truthful and authentic when it gives the moment of its creation a place in the universal order. His work, although prompted by personal experiences, spontaneously decouples from the present and evolves into a deeper, almost generically human expression. What Veress expresses in his sculpture relates to all of us, and transcends generations, cultures, and races – this is what gives Veress’s work a timeless truth.
His work graces many private and corporate collections, including that of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands, and those of the Dutch and German governments. Veress shares his time between the Niagara region in Canada, and a small village in Hungary, from where his art has continued to grow and develop.
