Pál KŐ

KŐ Pál
1941, Perespuszta – 2020, Heves, sculptor

He graduated from the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in 1968, where his master was József Somogyi. He regularly exhibited his works from 1963. Since 1978 He started teaching at the College of Fine Arts (since 2000 the Hungarian University of Fine Arts) in 1963, as a full professor from 1991, the institution’s depute rector between 1992 and 1996, and its professor emeritus from 2009. The signature feature of his sculptural art is a sensitive artisan surrealism sometimes verging on grotesque. His fgures evoke tales related to him as a child in his native village. He carved fgures reminiscent of medieval Hungarian sculpture from the 1980s: stone and bronze statues of kings, saints and heroes erected in public spaces. He had many exhibitions in Hungary and Europe, and in 2001 he opened an exhibition of his oeuvre in Paris. His main prizes are the Munkácsy Award (1975), the Kossuth Prize (2001), the Prima Primissima Prize (2006), the Artist of the Nation title (2014) and the Hungarian Heritage Award (2016). He was a member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts from 1995.