Lajos Flesser - Biography

BIOGRAPHY:


Lajos Flesser was born on Aug. 11, 1937 in Budapest, where he grew up in the shadow of World War II. In his late teens he studied at trade school, concentrating on metal skills. His need of comradereship and communication made him start boxing, and the success was long in coming. In boxing circles, Flesser became a well established name with a couple of Hungarian championships.

Then came the fatal year 1956, when Soviet tanks crushed the dreams of freedom. Flesser escaped and came to Sweden via Denmark. He still remembers his arrival in the refugee camp in Molle on Nov. 6. Shortly after that he was moved to Uddevalla, where the big shipbuilding yard could offer him a job after he had spent some time in the camp.

In Gothenburg the well known boxing promotor Edvin Alqvist soon became aware of Flesser's capacity as a boxer and offered him a contract. His debut occurred in May 1957, when Ingemar Johannson met Henry Cooper. This made his new entry into the unfamiliar country a little easier. Great possibilities turned up after Flesser had moved to Gothenburg, where he stayed until 1980. His life was however not quite free from problems. He says himself that he had difficulties in addapting to his new country.

Meeting Birgitte (Gitte) Outzen-Schmidt of Danish origin was of the greatest importance. They lived together and made their home in Helsingborg with their children Zarah and Simon.

For Fleser's evolution in an artistic direction the gallery - opened in 1985 - indubitably became the great inspiration. He faught his way into the competitive art galleries in Helsingborg and followed the principle of raising the bar and concentrating on international art. Studying art of different categories and contact with artists of importance developed his understanding and technical knowledge. Beside the supporting pillars Bengt Lindstrom and Bengt Olson Flesser - the two greatest Swedish artists in Paris whom he introduced in his gallery, there were other mentors and artists he introduced in his gallery in Helsingborg, such as Alan Davie, Hans Hartung, Kiro Urdin, Frans Widerberg and the sculptor Zoltan Pal.

His art can only be considered a performance of increasing intensity. With easel and paint tubes, stretchers and canvas, rugs and palette knives made of glass, high up under the ridge of the big house next to the gallery, Lajos punches his pallete knive into layers upon layers of emptied paint tubes of bold beautiful colors with restrained discretion building into a furious crescendo of colors and magic. The compositions grow independent, the knifework refines, the artist on his wings. Lajos achives a coloristic effect by means of a porous, transparent depth of the surface, which is produced by a series of layers of paint that break the colors of the previous layer, creating a sparkling magical effect. Dark patches appear to be illuminated from behind and underneath, so that the play of colors is perceived as atmosphere instad of surface. "Inferno" is the title of one of his paintings - an expressive whole which can serve as a symbol of the hard fight in several rounds that lie behind his feeling of coming victory.

"Circus in Paris", "Circus in New York" - a few smaller works of expressive black and white. "Cabaret" with musical illusions. The naked "Death" - the impressions that are brought forth from the viewer spill out with wonder and amazement of the nuances found within the magical dance coming forth from his paintings. His work is one of physical action, a dyanmic movement spontanously conveyed on to the composition. Shapes emerge in a suprising manner - fragmentary figures are endowed with rich dramatic content. Human and animal shapes are confronted with one another with the play of motion. Change of identity lend the figures an impression of being bird-people, dog-people, elephant-people. Love and hate, fear and weariness...all conveyed in oil without sketching.

The oil-paint brings forth the illusion of beaten silver, curved gold and lustre - the hard surface sometimes gives the impression of lacquer or enamel. With their sparkling, coloring and suggestive magic, these works can hardly be considered as abstract. In a literal sense, they can neither be called expressionist, since their form is clearly fixed, conveying ambigious impressions. Nor are they merely symbolist, since they do not impart an ambiguous literary or idealistic figurative language. Lajos Flessers paintings are of the style of fragmentarism - emotive and coloristic displays marked by intensive force which contributes to evasive, fragmentary meanings of form and color - fiery red beside ultrablue; flaming orange beside intensely green.

His work has had considerable success throughout the world, especially in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the U.S.

Editor: James Kellogg
Contributors: Teddy Brunius, Emeritus Professor of History of Art, University of Copenhagen
Oscar Reutersvard, Emeritus Professor of History of Art, Lund University Swenden
Karl-Erik Eliasson, MA - Author of "Lajos Flesser - Minidrama in Colours"

Publications, shows and reviews upon request.